A PILGRIMAGE TO CANAAN 



BY 

JENNIE SCOTT 



ILLUSTRATED 



• • • 

• • » 

1908: 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY 

Perkins Bros. (£o. 

SIOUX CITY, IOWA 



$UBRARY of CONGRESS J 
| Two Copies riecei*^- 

JUN 8 1908 



Copyright, 1308 
by JENNIE SCOTT 



PREFACE 



At the request of friends, I have endeavored to write a narrative 
of the cruise of the Grosser Kurfurst, the visit to Palestine, the World's 
Sunday School convention held in Jerusalem, and, on the return, of 
my trip through Europe. 

In preparing this narrative I am indebted to others for valuable in- 
formation and extracts, and for portions to cover a part of the itinerary 
that I did not make. 

Many of the views. yere obtained by me while abroad, and I trust 
they will make the story more vivid and real to those who may not 
have been privileged to view these scenes for themselves. 

Without doubt there are other narratives preferable, but my friends, 
to whom this story is dedicated, may find interest in and truly value this 
record in memory of the writer. JENNIE SCOTT. 



The Other Side. 

Across the sea I planned to go, 
And studied many books, to know 
About the pictures over there, 
And tried, in all things, to prepare 
Myself, that I might understand 
The wonders of that foreign land. 

A few short years, and I must go 
Unto a land I do not know 
Beyond the stars. Should I prepare 
For my long journey over there? 
Yes, let me leave no plan untried 
To fit me for the other side. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER. PAGES. 

I. — Eastward Bound 17 

II. — Crossing the Atlantic 24 

III. — Madeira 37 

IV. — Gibraltar 53 

V. — Algiers 63 

VI.— Malta 71 

VII. — Athens 83 

VIII. — Constantinople 1 03 

IX. — Smyrna and Ephesus 127 

X. — Canaan 145 

XI. — Damascus 159 

XII. — Galilee to Jerusalem 1 79 

XIII. — Haifa and Plain of Esdraelon 193 

XIV. — Nazareth 197 

XV. — Cana and Galilee 207 

XVI.— Jaffa 221 

XVII.— Jerusalem 229 

XVIII. — Outside the Walls of Jerusalem 259 

XIX. — Jericho and the Valley of the Jordan 275 

XX, — Bethlehem and Hebron 301 

XXL— Mount of Olives 319 

XXII. — The World's Convention 327 

XXIII. — Leaving Palestine 351 

XXIV. — Egypt 359 

XXV.— Bay of Naples 387 

XXVI. — Rome 409 

XXVII. — Across Europe 437 

XXVIII. — Paris, England and Scotland 459 

Appendix „ 473 

Index 49 1 




A. B. McCrillis, W. N. Hartshorn, 

Executive Committee. 



E. K. Warren, 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGES. 

Portraits of Executive Committee 2 

Author's Certificate of Membership 11 

Map of Route 15 

Officers of Grosser Kurfurst 31 

French Capital of Madeira 41 

Bullock Car, Funchal 47 

Public Square, Gibraltar 55 

India Rubber Trees, Algiers 65 

St. Paul's Bay, Malta 73 

Gateway of the Acropolis, Athens 87 

Delegates on Mars Hill, Athens 95 

Landing Place, Constantinople 105 

Hippodrome, Constantinople 115 

Peasant's House, Ephesus 1 29 

Ruins of Town and Theater, Ephesus 135 

Ruins of Temple of Diana, Ephesus 139 

Famous Trio of Americans, Beyrout 1 49 

View in the Lebanon 153 

Street Called Straight, Damascus 1 63 

Bedouin Tent 171 

Syrain Children 1 75 

Jacob's Well, Sychar 185 

Nazareth in Galilee 199 

Boat on Sea of Galilee 213 

House of Simon, the Tanner, Jaffa 225 

Map of Jerusalem 231 

Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem . .235 

Jerusalem from Mt. of Olives 239 

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem 243 

St. Stephen's Gate, Jerusalem 247 

Water Carriers in Jerusalem 255 

The Garden Tomb t 263 

Olive Tree in Garden of Gethsemane 269 

Lepers by the Wayside 273 



PAGES. 



Tomb of Lazarus, Bethany 277 

Inn of the Good Samaritan 281 ^ 

Wilderness of India 285 

Modern Jericho 291 

River Jordan 295 

Shores of Dead Sea 299 

Rachel's Tomb, Near Bethlehem 303/ 

Chapel of the Nativity, Bethlehem 307 

View of Hebron and Machpelah Mosque 31k 

David's Tomb 315 

Mount of Temptation 323 

Convention Tent, Jerusalem 329 

Samaritan High Priest, Jacob 335 

Grosser Kurfurst at Gibraltar 355 

Palms of the Nile 363/ 

Tombs of the Caliphs, Cario 367 

Climbing the Great Pyramid 373 

Great Stone in Quarry, Baalbek. . 379 

Naples and Castle of St. Elmo 391 

Ruins of the Forum, Pompeii . . 397 

Parthenon, Athens \ 41 1 . 

Holy Staircase, Rome 417 

Forum, Rome 421 

Colosseum, Rome 425 

St. Peter's and the Vatican, Rome 431 

The Lord's Supper , 449 



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A PILGRIMAGE TO CANAAN 



CHAPTER I. 
Eastward Bound. — Preparations for the Great Cruise. 

In the fall of 1903 I read in a Sunday school paper the following 
notice : 

"In 1904 a large number of Sunday school workers from our 
country and all other parts of the world will journey to Jerusalem, 
where a great convention will be held." 

And a little later there appeared in a county paper the following: 

"The World's Sunday School convention will meet in Jerusalem, 
April 18, 19 and 20, 1904. Arrangements are now being completed 
for sending delegates. If any active Sunday school worker in Clay 
county, wishing to go as a delegate, will notify R. D. Gould, county 
secretary, he will furnish the desired information." 

I had read biblical and historical accounts and narratives, and 
listened with great interest to others whose privilege it had been to visit 
these lands, which, with an inherent desire, had inspired me to know 
more of, and to see for myself, this place of promise; the Land of 
Canaan; the home of God's chosen people, and land where our Savior 
lived in bodily form. 

I, therefore, immediately wrote to Mr. Gould, who instructed me 
to apply for appointment as delegate, to L. P. Albright, chairman of 
the Sunday school executive committee of the state, and, in due time, I 
was appointed delegate from the Eighth district of the state of 
Nebraska. 

This prospect for the fulfillment of my wish to visit Palestine gave 
me extreme pleasure, as I had thought of it for years, and now my 
dreams were about to be realized. 



18 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

All fears of traveling alone in foreign countries were removed. I 
was to be accompanied by a large band of Christian people, each with 
the same purpose in view. We were to be, for a short time, where 
Jesus lived; to stand where he stood; to travel the same roads and to 
see the same hills and mountains, plains and valleys, the sea of Galilee, 
where he "loved so much to be." And, in his own land, be inspired 
to carry on his work anew. 

We were to sail from New York March 8th, 1 904, and to return 
in seventy-one days. For our accommodation was chartered the Grosser 
Kurfurst, of the North German Lloyd Atlantic line, commanded by 
Capt. W. Reimkasten, and Officers Wittstein, Hinsch and Wallwitz. 

The Kurfurst was one of the largest and most steady ships afloat. 
It was of 1 3,1 82 tons burden, 581 J/2 f ee t l° n §> 62-foot beam, 45 feet 
deep, draws 28 feet of water; twin screws, speed about 16 knots per 
hour and cost about $2,000,000. 

This palatial ship was to be our home as we crossed the wide At- 
lantic ocean and Mediterranean sea. 

The management of the convention and general direction of the 
cruise was in the hands of a central executive committee: E. K. War- 
ren, Three Oaks, Mich., chairman; W. N. Hartshorn, Boston, Mass., 
treasurer, and A. B. McCrillis, Providence, R. I. 

The detailed supervision of the transportation was in charge of F. 
C. Clark, tourist agent, who had lived in Palestine for twenty years, 
and had successfully conducted several foreign tours. He was assisted 
by his brother, Herbert E. Clark, the present vice consul to Palestine. 
These gentlemen sailed with us and did much for our comfort and 
pleasure, and to make the cruise and convention truly successful. 

The expenses for accommodation were from $300 to $750, to be 
paid two months before sailing, the difference depending upon the loca- 
tion and number of occupants of the state room selected. Each received 
the same kind of food and social privileges. The amount paid included 
the expense for room, board, tenders or small boats to convey us from 
our ship to land, omnibuses to and from stations when necessary, car- 
riage drives, fees for sight seeing, hotels, and every other necessary ex- 



Eastward Bound. 



19 



pense for the entire trip outlined, except steward's fees, laundry or 
was to be accompanied by a large band of Christian people, each with 
were but few who did not take several of these. Those taken in the 
orient were paid for at the time of the payment for the first ticket. 

Each one had to secure a passport before starting, the importance 
of which passport had been impressed upon us. A passport is a docu- 
ment from your home government, containing your personal description, 
including color of eyes and hair, the characteristic shape of your nose, 
lips and forehead, and other details for identification. It is issued by 
our own department of state, and recommends the bearer to the tender 
mercies of any foreign potentate within whose dominion the bearer may 
happen to be. On this document we were pleased to secure Secretary 
Hay's signature. Those who took the side trip to Damascus or Galilee 
required an additional passport, or tezkera, from the Turkish authorities. 

The first World's Sunday School convention was held in London, 
Eng., July 1st to 6th, 1889; the second at St. Louis, U. S. A., Sep- 
tember 3rd to 6th, 1 893 ; the third in London, Eng., July 1 1 th to 1 6th, 
1 898 ; and we were to attend the fourth, at Jerusalem, Palestine, April 
18th, 19th and 20th, 1904. 

Two years before, in a room in the Auditorium hotel, Chicago, a 
little group of men were talking of the next World's Sunday School 
conveniton. Hartshorn was there, and Warren, B. F. Jacobs, Law- 
rence, Clark, Pearce, and others. Each was asked to suggest a place, 
and when Mr. Hartshorn's turn for expression came, he said quietly, 
"Easter morning, 1904, at the Savior's tomb, Jerusalem." A silence 
fell upon the little company; Mr. Clark started a hymn, "Guide Me, 
O Thou Great Jehovah." Then they turned to Mr. Warren, who had 
just come back from a trip through the Holy Land, and questioned him. 
The group broke up ; the vision never died out ; some who were there 
believed it would become true. But when the idea began to be dis- 
cussed seriously at Denver, six months later, and the international con- 
vention approved the plan, thoughtful people called a halt. Grave 
questions were raised as to the practical side of such a scheme. What 
sort of a programme could be devised for a Jerusalem convention that 



20 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



would be worth while? Was it reasonable to suppose that a convention 
in that part of the world could be made really representative? Even if 
North America responded well, would England and other countries 
do so? 

If any appreciable numbers attended, could such crowds be accom- 
modated in Jerusalem? And what was the use of it all? Was it not 
mere sentiment? These questions have been answered. The convention 
has been held, not at the tomb on Easter morning, but near the probable 
sight of Calvary, a fortnight after Easter. 

The critics were right; the Jerusalem convention plan was visionary 
and largely a matter of sentiment. But sentiment is a lever that moves 
the world, and Christ was in the vision. 

In the meantime the working central committee was taking up the 
details of the great undertaking ; negotiations were opened with Frank 
C. Clark, tourist agent, of New York, looking toward placing in Mr. 
Clark's hands the directing of a 1 3,500 mile cruise. Eight hundred 
delegates were to be secured, if possible; 750 from North America 
and fifty from Great Britain. On the day the contract was signed, 
830 beds in Jerusalem were engaged, by cable, for the time of the con- 
vention, seventeen months hence. The number of delegates, which the 
states, territories and provinces were entitled to send on the cruise, 
was made about one-half of the representation to which they were 
entitled at the previous international convention; that, in turn, being in 
the United States equal to four times the representation in congress 
(both houses), or four delegates for each 150,000 of the population, 
with a corresponding number from the provinces and territories of the 
Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland. 

Individuals desiring to go on the cruise submitted their names to 
their respective state, territorial, or provincial Sunday school executive 
committees. If these various committees were satisfied that the appli- 
cants were Sunday school workers in good standing, or of the immediate 
family of such as were going, credentials were issued and the applicants 
were formally appointed as delegates. 



Eastwakd Bound. 



21 



The newspapers throughout the country, religious and secular, real- 
ized that the coming pilgrimage to Jerusalem was an event of peculiar 
significance and world wide interest, and published news of the move- 
ment freely. The following abbreviated official notice of the convention 
was sent out, not only to the Associated Press of America, but through- 
out the world wherever such service is given: 

The World's Sunday School Executive Committee officially an- 
nounces that the "World's Fourth Sunday School Convention will be 
held in the city of Jerusalem, Palestine, April 18th to the 20th, 1904. 
It invites all organizations, of which it is constituted, to be represented 
by the usual number of delegates. The committee further directs that 
this call be published in all quarters of the globe. 

EDWARD H. WARREN, Chairman. 
JOHN WANAMAKER, America. 
F. F. BELSEY, England. 
ARCHIBALD JACKSON, Australia. 
T. C. IKEHARA, Japan. 

But there were staggering difficulties constantly in the way of the 
successful outcome of the undertaking. The rigid adherence to State 
allotments and to Sunday school qualifications of delegates, by state 
executive committees, during the first year of bookings, had resulted in 
checking or rejecting applications until it began to look as though the 
ship could not be filled. Rumors of Turkish or Bulgarian disturbances, 
reported epidemics of cholera or other diseases in Mediterranean coun- 
tries, financial flurries in North America — any or all of these factors 
might turn the scale the wrong way. It took brave hearts and clear 
heads, and vigorous, tireless action by the faithful committee, to keep 
the project moving ever, steadily forward. Men of less ability and 
weaker faith would have abandoned the enterprise more than once, 
during those days and nights of watching and working. But the Father 
did not abandon it; therefore they could not. 

Great Britain, at first, considered planning for about fifty delegates, 
who were to join the Grosser Kurfurst in the Mediterranean, and sail 
with the American delegates to Syria. But the interest, kindled from 
America, spread rapidly throughout the United Kingdom, and the 



22 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

British members of the World's executive committee found it necessary 
to charter a ship of their own. The Auguste Victoria, of the Hamburg- 
American line, was secured, and Thomas Cook & Son were engaged to 
conduct 480 British passengers many of them officially appointed as 
Sunday school delegates, others going simply as Christian people — glad 
to avail themselves of the opportunity of visiting the Holy Land — on a 
pilgrimage of thirty-two days from Great Britain to Syria and return. 

The co-operation of the various foreign missionary boards was 
heartily given from the start, and the presence, at the convention of 
missionaries from the world's fields was planned for. Correspondence 
was opened early with the Christian missionaries stationed at the points 
where the pilgrimage was to touch. The missionary influence of the 
cruise was given prominence throughout, and results showed how far- 
reaching for good was this planning of the committee. Thus, not only 
did North America, Great Britain and Europe share in preparing for 
the world gathering at Jerusalem, but representatives of such countries 
as India, Egypt, South Africa, Trinidad, Australia, Japan, and still 
others, took an active part in the work. 

Two prominent excavators in bible lands extended invitations to 
the delegates to see, at first hand, all they could of such work or its 
"finds," and offered their services in describing it. Prof. Dr. Herman 
V. Hilprech, research editor of the Sunday School Times, and scientific 
director of the Babylonian expedition of the University of Pennsylvania, 
accepted the committee's invitation to address the delegates at Constanti- 
nople, and expressed his hearty willingness to explain the rich collec- 
tions of his imperial majesty, Abdul Hamid II., as contained in that 
sovereign's archeological treasure house, the Imperial Ottoman museum. 

Mr. R. A. Stewart McAlister, M. A. F. S. A., of the Palestine 
exploration fund of Great Britain, in charge of the excavation of the 
site of the biblical Gezer (in the northern Shephelak, northwest of 
Jerusalem, and a little more than half way from Jerusalem to Jaffa), 
cordially invited the delegates to visit the spot while the excavation was 
in progress, and promised to lecture on his work, as it lay before 



Eastward Bound. 



23 



them ; an opportunity that was embraced by hundreds on the return from 
Jerusalem 

So the eighteen months of preparing for the World's Fourth Sunday 
School convention passed, when, as the date for sailing drew near, it 
was found that the 800 bookings hoped for might not be secured, the 
cruise was, for the last few weeks, opened to the general public. But, of 
the more than 800 who sailed from America, March 8th, 1 904, the 
greater majority were actively interested in Sunday school and church 
work, and the others completing the passenger list were in such hearty 
sympathy with the spirit and purpose of the pilgrimage as to prove a 
harmonious part of the movement. 

This gathering in Palestine was really a practical recognition of 
the increasing desire, on the part of students of the New Testament, to 
come into possession of a substantial historic basis for their faith. 
"Back to Christ" is the rallying cry found in the impulse, stronger 
today than ever before. To realize the actual life and words of the 
Son of God, as he walked and talked with men. 



24 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



CHAPTER II. 

Crossing the Atlantic. — Adjusting Ourselves to the Strange Life of 

the Ship. 

Leaving Spencer, Io., the evening of March 5th, I arrived in 
Chicago the following morning, waiting two hours at the Union station, 
then boarding the train which conveyed me, by the Panhandle route, 
through the states of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. 
I expected to arrive in New York city at 3 p. m. the day before em- 
barking, but the train was delayed by a wreck that blockaded our way, 
and the breaking up of spring, with the great quantities of rain recently 
fallen, caused travel dangerous at this time. 

At Harrisburg we left the main road, which was thought impassable, 
and passed around by way of York, arriving in Jersey City about 1 
p. m. A porter conducted me to a hotel about five blocks distant from 
the depot, where I remained over night, and the following morning took 
a street car, which conveyed me within two blocks of the North German 
Lloyd pier, where lay the Grosser Kurfurst awaiting the arrival of its 
passengers for the long voyage. 

I was among the first, and was met by a rosy cheeked German 
steward, who relieved me of my suit case and led the way to my state- 
room, which, I thought, a half mile distant. I had cause to be pleased, 
however, with its location, and the cozy little white room looked very 
inviting. A steamer trunk had preceded me, from which I learned the 
name of a roommate, Miss Fletie Staples, of Comiskey, Ind. I went 
out to the office of the baggage room and had my trunk brought from 
New York city to the Grosser Kurfurst, then had money changed into 
French and English currency. Passing out, I met many going toward 
the Kurfurst, who would be my companions aboard the ship, but I did 
not recognize a familiar face. 



Crossing the Atlantic. 



25 



Out in Hoboken I observed many fine, large buildings, with gilt 
and glass fronts, and on close observation was surprised to see that 
nearly all were liquor houses. Nowhere have I seen in one street so 
many or so fine buildings for this purpose. When I returned to the 
boat my other roommate, Miss R. M. Sylvester, from Hanover, Mass., 
had arrived. We formed a happy trio, and during the long voyage 
each found the other an ideal roommate; the friendship, then formed, 
will ever bring to me pleasing remembrances. 

As the hour for sailing drew near the big steamer was fairly packed 
with happy humanity. There were missionaries, grown gray in the 
service, who were going back to their work, after a brief rest in the 
homeland; but the greater part of the delegates were new to travel, 
ocean travel, at least; and from the time the steamer left the Hoboken 
pier the joys of new sensations were to be theirs. There were white- 
choked ministers, who tried to appear as if a journey of 13,500 miles 
was a mere pastime to them; young ministers, some with their wives and 
some who looked lonely without. There were Sunday school teachers 
and a large percentage of scholars, nearly all of whom seemed to think 
that this was the finest picnic they had ever attended, and, with but few 
exceptions, every one seemed happy. One man announced in sepulchral 
tones that there were four in his stateroom, and that it was not a very 
big one either. 

"Did you not promise my father to provide me with the ordinary 
comforts on shipboard?" asked a good sister. 

"Most certainly I did, and I am prepared to keep my promise. 
How may I serve you madam?" 

"Well, sir, I am assigned to berth. ... in state room number. . . . 
and there is nothing but a port hole where I am to sleep." 

It was her first experience on a steamer, but, before long, the good 
sister was congratulating herself that she had a comfortable berth in an 
outside stateroom. 

One would suppose that all persons intending to take this voyage 
would be present at the scheduled time for starting. Several from New 



26 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



England, however, were belated and the vessel was held for over an 
hour for them. The last of the tourists being aboard, all visitors 
were requested to leave the boat. The gang plank was raised and we 
were off. A great multitude stood waving banners and handkerchiefs; 
the band played a cheery farewell as we were leaving America not to 
see land again for eight days. Many remained on deck to see the shores 
recede ; others were ascertaining whether their hold baggage was aboard ; 
some were getting adjusted to their state rooms; and others were busy 
writing messages to send back by the pilot, who accompanied us several 
miles out, when a small boat came and took him ashore. 

On a table in the salon dining room, each found a large envelope 
containing a passenger list, also a card assigning him to a particular 
table and seat, and other articles of information. The dining rooms 
accommodated about 500 persons, so that there was a first and second 
sitting; but the menu and service was the same throughout. There 
were 365 officers, seamen and stewards; and they were all German. 
Few spoke the English language well, but they were courteous and 
accommodating, and we had little difficulty in making our wishes known 
to them. 

We had sailed but a few hours when I began to feel a little 
disturbed, as is said at sea, but thought perhaps I was hungry, as I had 
but a lunch at noontime. I found the dining table and place assigned 
and, addressing a gentleman at the left, introduced myself as Miss 
Scott, from Clay Center, Neb., to which he replied that he was Mr. 
Lewis, from Syracuse, Neb. We had corresponded in regard to secur- 
ing rates to New York city, but this was our first meeting, and thus we 
began to form acquaintances. I soon realized, however, that I was more 
seasick than hungry, and, when I stepped out on deck, some one took 
my arm and we walked the deck in rapid motion, not for "dear life," 
but to regain health. I never knew who this person was, for, that 
evening we were all strangers to each other, but, I do know that we 
were in the "same boat" and that both were seasick. I soon returned 
to my stateroom and berth, where I remained for two days, distressedly 
seasick, yet did not suffer as others near me. 



Crossing the Atlantic. 



27 



It was reported that the weather was stormy and the sea rough, 
and that the captain, out of sympathy for the many that were sick, had 
gone miles out of his course to meet the waves at right angles, to lessen 
the discomfort and suffering of his passengers. Others saw rainbows 
in the sky, but I was interested in little outside my stateroom during this 
time. After this, I had several shorter periods of seasickness, but, strange 
to relate, not on the return voyage, though at times the sea was equally 
as rough. 

At first we received Marconi bulletins, but as we continued our 
way to the Madeiras, being out of the traveling course of vessels, we 
did not receive others till we neared Gibraltar. 

The ship's bugler soon came to be a familiar and welcome figure — 
perhaps more welcome in his sounding of the calls to meals than in the 
early summons to rise. 

Before the first morning's devotional service was held every dele- 
gate had received a copy of the Jerusalem Manual of Worship, with 
the following slip enclosed: 

Please accept with kind regards and best wishes of your com- 
mittee this copy of the "Manual of Worship" which has been prepared 
for you. 

K. K. WARREN, 
A. B. McCRILLIS, 
W. N. HARTSHORN, 

Committee. 

It contained choice selections, suitable for the cruise, and was 
an appreciated gift from the committee. * 

The most exciting of all was the cry in our stateroom, by one of my 
roommates, that the captain was distributing silk hat bands, embroidered 
with the name and crest of the Kurfurst, and that all who wanted one 
had better hurry out on deck. In striking contrast with the anxious, 
crowding passengers, who clustered around him, the captain moved 

* Hymns of The Jerusalem Manual of Worship. 

"We Join with All, in Every Place," "A Mighty Fortress Is Our 
God," "Jerusalem the Golden," "O Word of God Incarnate," "In Heav- 
enly Love Abiding," "Love Divine, All Love Excelling,' "He Leadeth 
Me!" "Hark! Hark! My Soul!" "Come, Thou Almighty King," "Saved 
by Grace," "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," "The Homeland! O, 
the Homeland," "When Morning Gilds the Skies," "The Son of God 
Goes Forth to War," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Blue Galilee," 



28 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



slowly along the promenade deck, handing to the right and to the left 
the coveted ribbons. As he stripped the last one off the wooden spool 
in his hand, keen disappointment showed on the faces of those who 
were not supplied. Deliberately the captain drew from a spacious 
pocket another spool full of silken bands, and the relief was immense. 
"I'm playing Santa Claus," he said. 



The principal business of the passengers on an ocean steamer seems 
to be eating. On our ship six meals was the regulation programme; 
breakfast, a lunch of consomme with sandwiches, cakes and crackers; 
before the middle of the day a second table meal, usually consisting of 
soup, two or three meat courses and a miscellaneous bill of fare, occupy- 
a whole page of the beautifully decorated menu card; a lunch of 
lemonade, biscuits and crackers in the middle of the afternoon; an 
elaborate course dinner, occupying an hour and a half in serving, at 
about 6 o'clock; and for all who desired, lemonade, crackers and 



"Jerusalem, My Happy Home," "O Jesus, Thou Art Standing 1 ," "No 
Night There," "My Jesus, As Thou Wilt," "True Hearted, Whole 
Hearted, Faithful and Loyal," "Sun of My Soul," "My Faith Looks 
Up to Thee," "We Would See Jesus," "Art Thou Weary? Art Thou 
Languid?" "Under His Wings I Am Safely Abiding," "Guide Me, O 
Thou Great Jehovah," "My Jesus, I Love Thee," "Holy, Holy, Holy," 
"Jesus! Lover of My Soul," "Savior, Breathe an Evening Blessing," 
"Like a River, Glorious Is God's Perfect Peace," "Brightest and Best 
of the Sons of the Morning," "Hiding in Thee," "When I Survey the 
Wondrous Cross," "Lead, Kindly Light," "The Church's One Founda- 
tion," "There Is a Green Hill Far Away," "Upward, Where the Stars 
Are Burning," "When the Weary Seeking Rest," "Joy to the World," 
"O God, Our Help in Ages Past," "When Winds Are Raging," "On- 
ward, Christian Soldiers," "The Cross Is Not Greater," "Eternal 
Father, Strong to Save," "O Paradise, O Paradise," "Abide With Me," 
"Jesus, These Eyes Have Never Seen," "Dear Lord and Father of 
Mankind," "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say," "Now the Day Is Over," 
"Rock of Ages," "O Day of Rest and Gladness," "Holy Ghost, With 
Light Divine," "We May Not Climb the Heavenly Steps," "O Love 
That Will Not Let Me Go," "O Where Are Kings and Empires Now?" 
"I Think, When I Read, That Sweet Story of Old," "Jesus, Savior, 
Pilot Me," "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy," "Nearer, My God to 
Thee," "Speed Away, Speed Away," "Must Jesus Bear the Cross 
Alone?" "Blest Be the Tie That Binds," "How Firm a Foundation," 
"Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," 
"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night," "The King of 
Love My Shepherd Is," "Peace! Perfect Peace!" "New Every Morning 
Is the Love," "Ride On! Ride On in Majesty," "Praise God, from 
Whom All Blessings Flow," "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee," 
" 'Tis Midnight; and On Olive's Brow," "Christ, the Lord, Is Risen 
Today," "In the Cross of Christ I Glory," "Angels, Ever Bright and 
Fair," "Just As I Am, Without One Plea," "For All Thy Saints, Who 
from Their Labors Rest," "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," "Go 
to Dark Gethsemane," "Fierce Was the Wild Billow," "My Country, 
'Tis of Thee," "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep." 



Crossing the Atlantic. 



29 



cakes, later in the evening. There were some persons who made it a 
point to patronize regularly every one of these meals; but such were 
few. As a matter of fact many people for several days skipped a 
greater portion of the elaborate meals provided, and those who were 
wise, ate very sparingly at all times. When seasick people recovered, 
however, it was astonishing to observe how much food they ate. The 
barroom is near the smoking room, and the steward in charge is usually 
one of the busiest people on the ship. As this was a Sunday school 
party the portion of people who used intoxicants was comparatively 
small, and the barroom steward was almost in despair, partly because 
the time hung heavily on his hands and because the probability of 
numerous tips was very slight. He evidently looked on the conditions 
as something to be patiently endured, and hoped for better times. Those 
accustomed to the regular use of ice water found the ship's water very 
unpalatable at first, so that after a few days ice was manufactured on 
shipboard, and served regularly. 

To furnish information to the curious regarding the dimensions 
and supplies of the ship, the central committee distributed slips of paper 
containing the following: 

OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF FACTS CONCERNING THE GROSSER 

KURFURST. 

Gross tonnage of the ship, 13,182; length, 582 feet; width, 63 feet; 
draft, 24 feet; crew, 365; horse power, 9,700. 

SUPPLIES LOADED AT NEW YORK. 

Lbs. Lbs. 

Meat 87,296 Butter 31,215 

Poultry 22,900 Oranges 40,250 

Flour 95,000 Tea 735 

Potatoes 143,887 Fresh fruits 18,050 

Eggs 57,000 Gal. 

Citrons 35,780 Milk 9,262 

Sugar 23,038 Tons. 

Coffee 7,340 Ice 135 

Dried fruit 8,866 Coal 3,906 

Fish 17,521 Bottles. 

Vegetables 38,190 Mineral water 50,228 

Other supplies will be taken on at other ports. 
March 15, 1904. COMMITTEE. 



30 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The menu card was an article of interest, not only for the bill of 
fare and musical programme it contained, but for the beautiful scenes of 
sea life it represented, and it was treasured by many as a souvenir. 

People who would keep in good trim on shipboard need to be very 

abstemious in eating and require some little exercise. Walking was 
somewhat confined because of the numerous steamer chairs which limited 

the space of the deck. It was only at the latter part of the voyage, 

when people were busy in their state rooms, writing letters and reports 

of the cruise, that a sufficient number of steamer chairs were placed in 

the hold to leave room for comfortable promenading. Shuffle board is 

a popular game on shipboard, and one which affords good exercise. 

In spite of the frequent descriptions of the great Atlantic liners, few 
people, who have never made an ocean voyage, have an adequate idea 
of the conveniences now found on a large steamer. The rooms are 
small, it is true, but electric fans are provided in all the poorly venti- 
lated places. Away down on the main deck, one is surprised to find 
a steady stream of pure, cold air; a draught sometimes sufficient to blow 
a man's hat off as he stands in the corridor. This is true, although 
the sea may be so rough that not a port hole can be opened. The 
source of this constant supply of fresh air is found in the ventilating 
shafts, which pierce the deck at frequent intervals. The great bell- 
shaped mouths of these shafts are turned toward the wind, and they take 
in the fresh air at a tremendous rate and deliver it to every part of the 
ship. The stokers and engineers, many of whom work immediately 
under these powerful currents of air, could not endure the intense heat 
were it not for such ventilation. At certain times, especially when the 
ship is going exactly with the wind, it is not so easy to make these 
ventilating shafts work freely. On the other hand, when the ship is 
pushing its way into the wind, it is sometimes necessary to turn the 
openings of these shafts around, otherwise these currents would be 
unbearably strong. 

In spite, however, of this very effective ventilation, it ofttimes hap- 
pens on a long voyage that the ship accumulates an unpleasant odor 
which arises from two sources, first the presence of a large party closely 



Crossing the Atlantic. 



33 



packed together, with the necessary cooking, eating and sleeping arrange- 
ments for a whole community; and, second, the bilge water, an accumu- 
lation of water in the hold, which, in the course of a long voyage, gets 
a very unpleasant smell, worse at sometimes than others, and in certain 
conditions of the atmosphere diffusing an odor through the whole ship. 
In port the ship is thoroughly pumped out and cleansed, so that there 
is no trouble in an ordinary voyage of a week or ten days. Great atten- 
tion is paid to other sanitary arrangements. On all good ships the 
pumps furnish steady streams of water for closets, bath rooms and other 
sanitary appliances. In fair weather members of the crew are kept con- 
stantly at work cleaning, painting and polishing. Every morning the 
decks are thoroughly washed and scrubbed with holystone. One great 
annoyance to many was the fact that the process of washing the decks 
was a noisy one and interfered with the morning slumber. The fresh 
water supply of the ship, amounting to about 500 tons, is kept in great 
tanks in the hold, and it was not uncommon to see a sailor remove a 
screweye in the deck, disclosing an opening, into which he dropped a 
plummet line in order to ascertain the quantity of water on hand. All 
the first class ships are also provided with a distilling apparatus, so 
that if the water gives out, a supply can be obtained from the sea itself. 

Many prominent Sunday school workers formed the party, among 
whom were the Rev. John Potts, Toronto, chairman of the inter-, 
national lesson committee; C. G. Trumbull, editor of the Sunday 
School Times; W. J. Semelroth, editor of the World's Evangel; Mrs. 
Wilbur F. Crafts, correspondent for the Christian Herald; Marion 
Lawrence, Mrs. Mary Foster Bryner, of Chicago, and Rev. Dr. Wal- 
lace Nutting, of Providence, R. I. F. H. Jacobs led the musical 
services during the tour. Mr. Jacobs was formerly with Evangelist D. 
L. Moody. 

In addition to the pastors and laymen of Canada and the United 
States the cruise was privileged in having as a passenger the honored and 
venerable missionary, Dr. Henry H. Jessup, of Beyrout. His addresses 
on aspects and conditions of life in the east, and on the struggles and 

4 



34 A Pilgrimage to CaNx\an. 

achievements of Christian missions in the Turkish empire, were revealing 
and inspiring. There was, therefore, an abundant supply of brilliant 
and effective speakers among such a representative passenger list, and an 
address on each of the various countries visited, delivered usually the 
evening before landing, was provided. The first Thursday evening Mr. 
J. A. Clark lectured on the subject of New York city, illustrated by 
stereopticon views, and Friday evening Mr. Clark, Mr. Jessup and Miss 
Ackerman were the speakers. 

We were awakened the first Sunday morning on board by the sound 
in the distance of the rich, full harmonies of brass instruments in the open 
air. It was "Jesus, Lover of My Soul." The ship's band was starting 
the day aright for us. 

March 13th, 1904, our first Sunday on the Atlantic, 1,900 miles 
from New York. At the hour of church service we assembled in the 
dining room and there was an overflow service on deck in another part 
>f the ship. The congregation read responsively, with Rev. E. B. 
Allen, of Toledo, O., Psalm cvii., 1-30. Then followed a sermon by 
the Rev. John Potts, D. D., of Toronto, who took for his text Psalm 
cvii., 30, and announced his topic, "The Voyage of Life." A voyage 
must have a point worthy of the voyage; therefore, the question, 
"whither bound?" — the Holy Land — and to walk in the footsteps 
of our blessed Lord, is the end we are seeking in this cruise — a noble 
purpose for bible students and Sunday school teachers. The glorious 
part of heaven is the desired haven to be sought in the voyage of life. 
If the sea reveals the works and wonders of the Lord, how much more 
so the voyage of life. These are manifested in providence and in grace, 
and in the history of the soul, in its illumination, submission, regeneration 
and sanctification, and in the culture that makes meet for heaven. 

The voyage of life should be under the control of one master mind. 
Take the steamer for illustration ; from the fireman to the engineer, 
from the humble sailors to the officers, all are under the control and 
direction of the captain, and the result is perfect comfort. "The Lord 
reigneth, let the earth rejoice." 



Crossing the Atlantic. 35 

The abstract voyage of life is chance, tinged by great variety. 
Sometimes hearts are broken because of storms of trouble ; but he who 
calmed the sea can calm all storms. All who go to him in prayer can 
have this experience. The end of the voyage, in the case of Paul's 
shipwreck, was that all escaped safe to land. "The Lord reigneth, let 
the earth rejoice." 

A great Sunday school was held in the afternoon, which filled 
every available meeting place. Mr. Marion Lawrence, of Ohio, being 
the superintendent, the quarterly temperance lesson of the regular inter- 
national Sunday school lessons, based on the story of John the Baptist 
beheaded, was the topic. An offering of $ 1 00 was given to be devoted 
to international work. Thus passed a day of much spiritual benefit. 

Ohio sent the largest delegation, about eighty persons. These 
delegates all wore badges, with the name of the state on one bar, 
Jerusalem on another, and a cross and a crown in the center. One 
morning the monotony was somewhat relieved by a tramp, tramp, 
tramp on the deck; with shouts and much laughter. It is Ohio's 
delegation, seventy-nine strong, led by sturdy, broad shouldered Tim- 
othy Standby, shouting "Hi-o-hi, O-hi-o, we make music where we 
go ; never sulk, never sour — Jerusalem, Jerusalem, nineteen four — 
Ohio." 

Another morning a line stretching along the length of the deck 
appeared, headed by Dr. John Potts, chairman of the international 
lesson committee, carrying a huge Canadian flag. Canada's loyal sons 
and daughters announced their heme land with a "C-A-N-A-D-A — 
Canada!" sharply shouted. 

The Nebraska delegates had a special meeting about this time m 
the aft dining room, after which We had our picture taken on the deck. 

The names of the delegates from Nebraska are as follows: Mr. 
and Mrs. Clinton C. Cobb, Mr. George P. Davis, Miss Mamie 
Haines, Mr. James Stander, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Haskell, Miss 
Faith Haskell, Rev. Frank F. Lewis, Rev. W. B. Maze, Rev. and 



36 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Mrs. William H. Medlar, Rev. A. L. Riggs, D. D., Rev. D. C. 
Ridgway, A. M. D. D., Rev. J. D. Stewart, and Miss Jean Scott. 

Many organizations were commenced before we reached Funchal. 
The most important and effective was the "Primary and Junior Teach- 
ers' union." 

Before reaching Gibraltar those who did not expect to return with 
the Grosser Kurfurst were required to select a ship and time of return. 
Deciding to make a tour through Europe I chose the Kaiser Wilhelm 
der Grosse, which sailed June 6th, from Southampton, Eng., to 
New York. 



Madeira. 



37 



CHAPTER III. 
Madeira, the Land of Enchantment. 

Just prior to our landing at Madeira a little billet was handed to 
us, and a similar notice was given to each member of our company a 
little before disembarkation at the points of interest subsequently visited. 

Every member of this cruise is invited to meet the Captain and 
the Central Committee with their wives in the forward dining saloon, 
Friday, 2:30 to 4:30 p. m. to receive the Official Badge for the World's 
Fourth Sunday School Convention. The ladies may wear their steamer 
or "glad clothes" as suits their convenience. 

THE COMMITTEE. 

After the first two or three days I was quite free from sickness 
and enjoying the voyage much, but the eighth morning out I felt a 
little disturbed, which is a mild way of admitting that I was seasick. 
Many others were similarly distressed. The cause of this indisposition 
may have been the unusual roughness of the water, but it was more 
probably due to the nearness of land, to which we were fast approaching. 

Only those who have lived on "the desert of brine" for a week or 
more, the only land near them being three miles away, and that straight 
down, can understand the excitement of the cry, "There's land is sight!" 

The morning of the 1 6th was the first very cloudy morning, but by 
straining one's eyes there could be seen, a little north of east, a thin 
ribbon of smoke on the misty horizon, our first view of the Madeira 
islands, along whose eastern coast a vessel sails for hours; while rising 
from the water are cliffs of surpassing grandeur, standing 3,000 to 5,000 
feet in height. It is said that nowhere else on earth, except in Norway 
are such sea cliffs visible. From these perpendicular mountains streams 
dash down hundreds of feet and break into veils of spray, while others 



38 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

flow, with ever increasing rapidity, down rocky gorges, broken here 
and there into cascades that gleam and shimmer in the sunshine. This 
is all in plain sight as the ship approaches land, and for two hours the 
landscape, inviting from the first, exhibits constantly more definite detail 
and pleasing variety. Vineyards and fertile terraces gild the less 
precipitous hills, and peasants' homes appear on the slopes. Where 
the mountain canons widen a little at the shore there cluster little villages, 
the houses made of concrete, and roofed with tile or thatch, often so 
covered with moss or lichen as to be in color a brilliant mottled orange. 

In one place, where two cliffs grudgingly give way to steep hills, 
stands the capital, Funchal, a beautiful and most interesting city. 

Fourteen months before, the people of America, who were begin- 
ning to get interested m this Jerusalem cruise, m reading Clark's 
description of the route and the places to be visited, noticed that an 
exact itinerary was given, even to the hours of arrival at and departure 
from the different points. Funchal, Madeira, was to be reached, ac- 
cording to that itinerary, about noon on Wednesday March 1 6th, and 
on that day the anchor chains of the Grosser Kurfurst rattled down 
its bows and we were anchored before the city of Funchal. 

To most of us Madeira is a familiar word, associated with the 
famous Madeira wine, and but few would be able to locate the 
Madeira islands with even approximate accuracy, or state anything 
specific in regard to the people, climate and topography of these islands. 
In making this statement I am judging others by myself, in fact, but 
few of the 800 on board our great ship were prepared for the charming 
experiences enjoyed at Funchal. 

If one sails 2,500 miles almost due east from Charleston, S. C, 
he will reach the Madeira islands, 500 miles from the coast of Africa,, 
their position being 32 degrees, 34 minutes, north latitude, and 1 6 
degrees, 1 7 minutes, west longitude, from Greenwich. 

Funchal is 2,741 miles from New York, 580 miles from Gibraltar, 
and about 500 miles south of the Azores. Many ships from England, 
on the way to Australia and South African ports, touch at Madeira. 



Madeira. 



39 



There is no good harbor there, and when the south wind blows hard 
a landing is impossible. 

When the ship anchored we were soon having our first experience 
with the natives, who scurried out in boats to greet the ocean liner. 
There were a few good sized craft in the placid harbor, and an innumer- 
able number of small boats. Out came the row boats, the huge sweeps 
bending like willow rods under the strain, threading their way in and out 
among passing launches. Bare, brown backs, some already glistening 
wet, gave a hint of what was coming. There goes one overboard in a 
head first dive! Then began fierce ejaculations and beseeching calls to 
the passengers, who were crowding the Kurfurst's rails. Over went a 
silver coin from the steamer's deck. It struck the water, and in the 
sunlight we watched it flutter, so slowly did it sink down, down again — 
a flash of brown backs, a splash, a soaking, brown head quickly bobbing 
up again, and the coin is passed into the bottom of a waiting boat. Any 
''oin, except copper, which they said they could not see in the water, 
would be brought up by these human fish. It seemed to matter not how 
many feet in depth the coin might have the start, the divers never failed 
to bring it up. The coin frequently came up in the diver's toes, but this 
was a trick of the trade. The diver caught it in his fingers deep down, 
and conveyed it to his toes m the act of turning to rise. Some men 
brought boys on their shoulders and cast them off to make them dive. 
The boy was often small and afraid, and a man generally followed 
him and got the coin ; the lad simply dived and came back. 

A ripple of excitement along the deck announced the presence of 
one of the brown skinned, bare backed swimmers, whose physique had 
already aroused his spectators' admiration. He had climbed to the 
upper promenade deck, and indicated, by signs and broken English, 
that, for a shilling, he would dive from the rail — a good thirty foot 
drop. The first two persons he invited to defray the expenses of the 
entertainment promptly offered him a shilling if he would not thus risk 
life and limb, but their English was lost upon him. Soon he had more 
than a shilling, and feeling his way along the two-inch ledge outside the 
rail, the young Portuguese chattered to his companions below while he 



40 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



found a position clear of the launch just under him. On one bronze 
fore arm was tattooed a crucifix, on the other a ballet dancer. He 
backed up against the rail, and the women held their breath. Out he 
shot — kodaks snapped — squarely he struck the water and in a flash 
he was safely paddling away, none the worse for his plight. 

While the diving had been in progress a bevy of small boats, laden 
with salable merchandise, had collected about the ship, and long poles, 
shod with boat hooks, had caught to our side. Up these poles climbed 
the natives like monkeys. Once on deck they throw down ropes of their 
own to their fellows, and merchandise is quickly made ready for hoist- 
ing on board. Up comes a bird cage with a family of bright green 
parrots. Wicker chairs and other light wood work, and, in another 
moment, Jerusalem pilgrims and Madeira natives are making profitable 
bargains. Other boats brought fruit, vegetables, fish, and other supplies 
for the Kurfurst. 

The missionaries of the place also boarded our steamer and with 
kindly greetings invited us to attend a meeting in the mission hall at 2:15 
p. m. of that day. These gentlemen were the Rev. Mr. Patterson, 
of the Scottish church; the Rev. W. F. Smart, and the Rev. G. B. 
Nind, of the Methodist Episcopal mission 

Hearing that the landings were attended with danger I dreaded 
much this first disembarking; but, after a cautious walk down the swing- 
ing steps from the towering deck of the Kurfurst, a jump into the little 
tender, helped by the steady hands of the native boatsmen, a brisk run 
of the tender from the ship to dock and the climb up the long flight of 
stone steps from the water's edge, we stepped in safety into fairyland. 
There was little occasion for fright, and only pleasure and surprise 
attended our way. 

The first thing that impresses the visitor after he gets ashore is the 
pavement. If he has tender feet he feels it before he sees it. It is 
composed of small, thin stones, set upright, and makes a good road way. 

We were hustled at a lively pace through the streets to the station 
of the cog wheel railway, accompanied by children carrying flowers 
for sale. 



Madeira. 43 

The ride of two miles up trie mountain side on the inclined railroad 
is an interesting experience. The wheels did not move so rapidly as 
to prevent numerous children from running along beside the train, filling 
our laps with beautiful flowers. I hey, of course, expect a few coins in 
return. Then the engineer turns on a cloud of hissing steam from the 
side of the train and the children scurry away. We did not mind the 
slow speed, for every rod of the way afforded some surprise. The 
entire landscape seemed strangely askew; the little pink and blue and 
buff houses are all tipped, and one passes many an enchanting cottage 
and villa on that climb through fairyland; but, after all, it is the car 
that is tipped. 

W e catch glimpses of the famous mountain slide, and see men 
trudging up, carrying sleds upside down on their heads. in coming 
down some of us took the mountain slide instead of the railroad. The 
sleds were square boxes on runners, with a seat holding two persons. 
Each sled is guided by two ropes, one on either side, held by men who 
run behind or jump onto the runners from time to time. 1 he slide is a 
steep road down the mountain side, built of the same slippery, black 
stones turned on edge that make such good "sleighing" in the streets 
of Funchal. Descending, slowly the sleds move at first, then the ground 
begins to slip away faster, and then at a speed quite fast enough to be 
exciting. And one swings around sharp corners with certainty of an 
upset, but is righted just in time. 

A short distance above the terminus of the railroad, high up on 
the mountain, is a church, from the balcony, far away and more than 
2,000 feet below, could be seen the Grosser Kurfurst, like a little boat 
on the quiet waters of the bay. 1 owermg more than 3,000 feet was 
the mountain range itself, tipped with clouds, the precipitous sides 
clothed with luxuriant green and furrowed by rapid mountain torrents, 
of whose silvery sparkle glimpses could at intervals be obtained. Had 
we power to present this scene in adequate words the picture would live 
in literature as long as the greatest of the great masterpieces. 

Near the terminus of the railroad, and to the right for some distance, 
a small party of Nebraska delegates followed a somev/hat level road. 



44 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



This road led in places through deep cuts around the side of a many 
terraced mountain. Below and to the left rose the mountain many feet 
above. Our path was strewn with flowers, numerous, and in variety, 
and we feasted our eyes on the delightful scenery everywhere in view. 
Several children followed, asking for pennies, and as we advanced the 
crowd became greater, till the children outnumbered the tourists. We 
endeavored to have them return, but farther and farther they followed 
until we feared they might not find the way back. Grouping them, 
one of our party who carried a kodak took their picture, and giving 
them money persuaded them to return. We walked on and on, observ- 
ing the daintily tinted cottages here and there, surrounded by vines and 
flowers. But more often they formed a terrace of more or less extent 
on the mountain side, while on the other hand fell silvery streams of 
water from the mountains above, the wondrous beauty of which we 
could not pass without lingering to admire. Near the side of the road, 
as we continued our way, we suddenly came upon a quaint, neat struc- 
ture of cane or other light material, not unlike a golf or other game 
house. We were surprised, however, to find that this little octagonal 
building, surrounded by tropical shrubbery, with no other building in 
view, was a school house. The Portuguese master, who met us at the 
door, courteously invited us to enter. I think the school consisted of 
probably thirty pupils, boys of about 1 years of age, who seemed as 
mannerly a group as one could see anywhere. The interior appeared 
more of a play house than looked the outside. The walls were covered 
with ordinary clean white newspaper, and colored paper chains were 
artistically festooned from the ceiling, probably the work of the pupils. 
The master conversed with us in good English, and we inquired if the 
girls of Madeira were not also educated in school. He replied that his 
mother taught the girls in another building. Near by and just across 
the way, entirely secluded from view by foliage, was this school for 
girls. We all stood outside, had a picture taken, and continued 
our way. 

Upon the mountain side, situated on a level tract overlooking the 
sea and surrounded by luxuriant tropical plants and flowers of various 



Madeira. 



45 



kinds, was a beautiful villa, with game grounds adjacent, probably the 
home of some wealthy Portuguese who had found a paradise on earth 
in this island of enchantment. Shall he fail in being happy? 

Arriving at a point where two roads meet part of our company 
thought one road would lead us the nearest way to the city, while others 
thought the other the road to take. At last one of our number started 
and we all followed, to learn that the road selected led us a long, tire- 
some way. The road was quite steep and we could hardly help run- 
ning when once in motion. One of our party fell and cut his hand 
on the sharp stones of the pavement. Walking a mile or two down 
this steep, rough decline, continually guarding against a run or a fall, 
was very tiresome. As we neared the city we came to a street where 
sleds were coming down at breakneck speed. It seemed strange to 
see sleds in use in this snowless land, but such is the common practice 
in Funchal. 

Boys were passing from school, and I asked one to read a poem 
from his reader, which he did in Portuguese, and then waited until I 
gave him money. He was well dressed, and probably belonged to the 
better class. All children there think that tourists have an abundance, 
and look for recompense for any little favor bestowed. 

We did not return in time to attend the devotional meeting, held in 
the Methodist Episcopal Mission hall, to which we had been cordially 
invited. But many did attend and found a meeting of interest. 

We were in time, however, for the greater part of the reception 
held in the Teatro de Maria Pia, a fine opera house, the use of which 
was lent by the municipality of Funchal. Admission was by tickets, 
with which the young men had supplied us that morning on board the 
Kurfurst. 

The white haired gentleman, who stepped to the front of the 
stage and nominated the chairman of the meeting, was Mr. George 
Smith, companion of the Star of India, secretary of the foreign work 
of the United Free Church of Scotland and missions at Edinburg, and 
the father of George Adam Smith, whose monumental work on the 



46 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

"Historical Geography of the Holy Land" is the guide book, not 
only for this pilgrimage, but for the bible studying world. 

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Mr. Smith, "I have the honor to 
move that the chair be taken by the Rt. Hon. Thomas A. Dickson, of 
his British majesty's privy council, Ireland, one of the members of the 
Gladstone government in 1 884, and for many years a distinguished 
member of the house of commons." Dr. Whittier, of Trinidad, in- 
voked God s blessing on the assemblage. The chairman expressed his 
convictions that a meeting like this had never before been held in the 
history of the island. The Rev. Mr. Patterson, of the Funchal Scot- 
tish church, hoped that the island would serve as a stepping stone for 
the pilgrims on their way to the conquest of the old world in the east. 
He told in a picturesque manner of the bible scenes and customs we 
might view in Madeira, had we time to stay — oxen treading corn on the 
threshing floor, and women grinding it with a little stone mill — and he 
told of the temperament of the people, which likened them strongly to 
those of the bible. 

In a fifteen minute address he explained the historic and evangelical 
situation; gave the delegates a hearty Scottish and United Free Church 
of Scotland greeting; told of the good work in the islands since 1837- 
40, when Dr. James Henderson, of St. Enoch's, Glasgow, induced 
the assembly to constitute Madeira a station of the church. Two repre- 
sentatives of the American Methodist Episcopal mission here followed 
him, and then the delegates themselves gave voice in a series of eloquent 
speeches. 7 he secretary, Mr. Marion Lawrence, of Toledo, O., told 
how every state in President Roosevelt's republic, and every province of 
British America, except Newfoundland, was there represented. Mr. 
John Potts, of Toronto, created extraordinary enthusiasm by his patriotic 
references to Ireland, as well as to Canada. Mrs. Mary F. Bryner, 
of Peoria, 111., fitly closed the demonstration as only an accomplished 
American lady could. 

Another hymn and the benediction in the crowded theater, where 
the strains of praise and prayer were heard for the first time, con- 



Madeira. 



49 



eluded the international reception, for which we have to thank Portugal, 
through the courtesy of its municipal mayor, and Scotland, through the 
energy and tact of its church minister. 

As the sun went down the visitors crowded into the pretty Scottish 
church to see the fine Portuguese congregation of eighty members and 
many children, which was addressed by Dr. Whittier, our missionary, 
now in charge of their kinsfolk, who had fled to Trinidad for freedom to 
worship God. It was a pathetic occasion and will long be remembered. 

Fifteen miles back from Funchal, off in the mountains, is one of the 
few Sunday schools in Madeira. Mr. Smart, who has labored for 
twenty-five years in Maderia, told how his wife and his colleague, Mr. 
Hind, the only two Sunday school teachers on the island, gather forty 
or fifty people every Sunday, hear them recite the bible verses of their 
own choosing, and teach them the international lessons. Some of the 
island pupils do not yet know how to read; half a dozen years ago but 
one or two could do so. The training of others to become teachers, a 
work not unfamiliar to larger places than Madeira, is the effort of the 
two present teachers. 

Before leaving America some of us had received an appeal for 
funds to aid in the building of a road through the island of Madeira, 
as furthering the work of Christian missions, which was to run from the 
little town of Santa Cruz, on the east coast, through several parishes, 
to Funchal, the capital. 

It was suggested that the road be dedicated to the memory of 
Christopher Columbus, who studied navigation at Porto Santo on the 
island, and married the daughter of the governor, Perestrello. In con- 
nection with the building of this way, and as a help toward bringing 
the islanders into the way of life, it was related that Columbus himself 
had first received in Madeira an intimation of the way across the seas 
to the west. The story is that a Portuguese sailor lay dying in a 
hospital at Madeira with his secret undisclosed. That he desired to 
reveal it, but could not find the right person. At last came a man whom 
he knew to be the one for the trust, and to him he whispered the in- 

5 



50 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



formation that far beyond the western shores of Madeira there was land 
to be found. The sailor died, the man to whom he told his secret was 
Christopher Columbus. 

Madeira was discovered by the Portuguese in 1417, and a church, 
built nearly 400 years ago, marked the alleged grave of the discoverers. 

Two streams flow through Funchal, which at this time were some- 
what reduced in size. It is to these that the women of Funchal repair 
for the purpose of conducting the family washing. Each woman takes 
her station on a flat rock, with a pile of clothing beside her, and beats 
and pounds the clothing until it reaches the stage of cleanliness that is 
satisfactory to her, after which the clothes are put on the high stones 
to dry. Some of these women appear to work hard, but most of them 
are leisurely m their manner, and chat and gossip with their neighbors. 

We returned to the steamer for our evening meal, and I was too 
fatigued, having walked several miles over the rough stone roads of 
Funchal, to return to the island that evening; but many could not resist 
the temptations of the sight and beauties of the place, and reported the 
land more fairy-like by night than by day. 

It is probable that the invalids who seek its climate, and the few 
foreigners who are doing business on the island, feel the need of more 
life and activity than usually prevails, for the whole atmosphere is one 
of quiet, and the mean annual temperature is 65 degrees. Perhaps it 
is on account of this craving for excitement that the Casino has been 
built, and has proved so popular. This is a beautiful garden overlook- 
ing the sea, and is said to be lighted at night with thousands of tiny 
lights, furnished from little glass cups with olive oil in the bottom, the 
top serving as a globe. A single lamp gives much light, and a hundred 
of them hung to its branches make a tree beautiful, and thousands of 
them hung in festoons make a path" bewilderingly attractive. The great 
dragon tree, which looks as if made of sausage links, with lamps from 
every bough to the ground, presents a strange appearance. 

The walks, like all pavements in Funchal, are made of small stones 
set edgewise, and these in some places are laid in patterns with artistic 



Madeira. 



51 



skill, and in the midst of this garden is a mosaic map of Africa, so laid. 

Within the house the music is heard and the dance is gay, and up- 
stairs the roulette tables are busy, with men or women in every seat, 
for this Casino is a little Monte Carlo. 

The next morning we returned to Funchal and had an opportunity 
to look about the city. The people seemed vigorous, hardy and well 
fed, thriving in the outdoor life, which most of them led, although the 
evidences of poverty were numerous. Nearly everybody was lightly 
clothed. Fruit was very plentiful, and was offered for sale at low 
prices ; feathers, flowers and bead chains were also offered by enter- 
prising peddlers, and donkeys were bearing burdens of various kinds, in- 
cluding milk and water. Cages of canary birds and of parrots ''for 
sale," were hung in the windows and at the doors of shops, while in 
the open, birds filled the air with their sweet songs. 

There are only a few wheeled vehicles, and they are neither easy 
to ride in over the rough stones nor popular. He who would move 
about in Funchal in style and in comfort hires a carro. Oxen are 
attached to a sled having a canopy top, looking like an old fashioned 
four-post bedstead raised upon runners and upholstered, and curtained 
with chintz. One man goes ahead and guides the oxen ; another runs 
behind with a goad and a grease bag (like a long stocking), and when 
the sledding is hard he cries "Whoa!" and drops the grease bag under 
the runners. There is a bell on the yoke which tinkles merrily. The 
whole thing, especially to a stranger, is very exhilarating. 

In this dignified and luxuriant manner we ride as far as the fort, 
which is situated high on the mountain side. From its flat top one can 
see over the tree tops and buildings to the wide ocean beyond. In 
former times a hinged bridge attached to the fort at one side was let 
down over a deep ravine. Near the fort stands a cactus hedge, which 
has grown to a great height. Returning, a friend took our picture 
while we were seated m the carro. All went well going up, but descend- 
ing our sled turned sideways several times. The men m charge under- 
stand their work, and there was little danger, either of upsetting or of 
colliding with others. 



52 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



We enter the beautiful garden where once was a monastery, but now 
luxurious with plants and flowers. 

Requesting a gentleman to wait for us, one of our party asked me to 
accompany her to a shop for the purpose of selecting a hat. So bewitch- 
ing and alluring were the attractions of the Madeira shop that the wait- 
ing man was for hours forgotten. Under the circumstances, how could 
he expect to be the subject of her thoughts, even for a moment, in 
Madeira. 

On the principal streets there are many good shops of various 
kinds, with articles neatly arranged in windows and about the doors; 
and some we saw were employed making shoes by hand. So mild is 
the weather, even in winter, that many go barefooted the year around, 
and one would judge that here shoemaking would prove an unprofitable 
business. 

We all were greatly pleased with the visit at Madeira. It was our 
first stopping place, and nowhere did we find a land more delightful. 

On the afternoon of the 1 7th we continued the voyage. That 
evening Dr. Jessup lectured on the subject of "Women in Palestine." 

We received the following invitation from the central committee: 

Every member of this cruise is invited to meet the Captain and 
the Central Committee, with their wives, in the forward dining saloon, 
Friday, 2:30 to 4:00 p. m., to receive the Official Badge for the World's 
Fourth Sunday School Convention. The ladies may wear their steamer 
or "glad clothes" as suits their convenience. 

THE COMMITTEE. 

The meeting was afterwards changed to the evening of Monday, 
March 2 1 st, after the passengers had returned from sightseeing in Al- 
giers, and were dined and refreshed. Mr. and Mrs. Warren, Mr. 
Hartshorn, Mr. and Mrs. McCrillis, and Capt. Reimkasten received 
their guests at the end of the dining saloon. As each passed in line the 
daughters of Mr. Warren and Mr. Hartshorn presented the gold and 
enamel pin of the Jerusalem convention. 



Gibraltar. 



53 



CHAPTER IV. 
Gibraltar — A British Fortress. 

We were to spend the day of March 19th at Gibraltar. We left 
Madeira, a beautiful island of the sea, two days before, to view very 
different scenes at Gibraltar — scenes indicating strength, vastness and 
power. The morning is beautiful in the bright sunshine, and the atmos- 
phere warmer than at Funchal. Gibraltar lies in latitude 36 degrees, 
6 minutes north, being thus almost exactly on a line with the southern 
boundary of Missouri, the lamous "36 degrees, 30 minutes" of the 
compromise before the civil war. Its longitude is 5 degrees, 2 1 minutes 
west, and it is 410 miles from Algiers. It contains about 26,000 in- 
habitants, and a military force of 6,000. 

Gibraltar, the "Mons Calpe" of the ancients, one of the pillars of 
Hercules, of which the other was Mount Abglas or Ape's Hill, in 
Africa (Monte Almina), was first known to the Phenicians, and is 
referred to and described by both Greek and Roman writers. There 
is little doubt that it was uninhabited until the Mohammedan invasion 
of Spain, which established and maintained an infidel dynasty in that 
country for upward of 800 years. 

On this rock the Moors first landed, and from here, when the 
Christian arms had regained supremacy, the last remnant of a glorious 
empire retired into Barbary. 

Gibraltar was not highly esteemed by the early explorers for 
military purposes, but the Barbary pirates long held their possession at 
Tarifa, where for generations they maintained the castle, still in exist- 
ence, and levied a tax on the passing vessels. 

For many years the Moors and Spaniards contended with one an- 
other for possession of Gibraltar. The treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, 
confirmed England's title to this stronghold. 



54 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Gibraltar may be described as a bold headland or promontory at 
the entrance of the Mediterranean, jutting into the sea. It is a peninsula 
of oblong form, running 'nearly due north and south, and is about 
three miles in length, its greatest breadth being three-quarters of a 
mile and its circumference being about seven miles. It is separated by 
a ridge from north to south, dividing it into two unequal parts. The 
entire area of Gibraltar, including the north front, is 1 ,266 acres, of 
which about twenty-one acres only, "public property," are reserved as 
a garden ground. 

There are, however, other spots cultivated as private properties and 
government quarters. The greater part of the rock is incapable of 
cultivation. On the north it is connected with the mam land by a 
low, sandy isthmus, 1,500 yards in length, and from 950 to 1,800 
yards m breadth. On the western side, where the town is built, the 
slope in most parts is gradual ; but the eastern, which faces the Mediter- 
ranean, is an inaccessible cliff, 450 feet m height, bare of vegetation, 
and forming a series of rugged precipices, broken only in one spot by an 
immense bank of sand, the accumulation of many ages, which lies heaped 
up under Signal Station hill. At the northern face the mountain 
rises in a perpendicular and unbroken cliff to the height of nearly 
1 ,400 feet, terminating in a narrow plateau, crowned with a powerful 
battery. At its extreme height the rock is marked by three points, viz. : 
At the north, the rock gun of "Wolf's" Craig, 1 ,250 feet in height 
in the center; the upper signal station, 1,225 feet high; and at the 
south, Sugar Loaf Hill or O'Nare's Tower, 1 ,408 feet high. The 
greatest height is in the neighborhood of Ape's Hill. The rock is com- 
posed of compact limestone and gray dense marble, varied by beds of 
red sandstone. 

Though Gibraltar has been thought by many to be only a barren 
rock, its floral and vegetable variety is sufficiently rich to occupy the 
attention of botanists. The geranium and rose run wild, and the myrtle, 
locust tree, a great variety of cactus, the vine, fig tree, olive, almond, 
orange, and lemon are present in different localities. 



Gibraltar. 



57 



The city consists of two distinct portions, known as north and south, 
the former being the most important, as it includes the commercial por- 
tion, which runs in two parallel streets — Waterport and Irishtown 
streets. The town is crowded into a narrow space between the rocks 
and the sea, and is the meeting place of many nationalities. The 
British garrison makes the largest element in its population. The abrupt 
slopes at the back of the town are thickly covered with homes, built 
tier above tier to a height of 250 feet above the sea. At the north- 
ern extremity of this district is a Moorish castle with ancient walls 
riddled with the marks of shot, the honorable scars of sieges. It is 
one of the oldest Moorish buildings in Spain, and is supposed to have 
been commenced by Tarik, but not completed until 1 725 by Abdul 
Haziz, as the Arabic inscription over the south gate records. The most 
noticeable feature now remaining is the Terre del Omenage, a massive 
tower in a commanding place, where the Moorish governors took the 
oath of allegiance. 

The galleries are the great sights of Gibraltar. There is no excava- 
tion in the world for military purposes at all approaching them in con- 
ception or execution. They were begun to be excavated out of the solid 
rock, during the siege, to bring a flank fire on the approaches. 

We start on the visit to the rock itself, to be shown the few galleries 
made in 1 789, and interior views that are permitted to strangers. 
Modern guns all the way up the slope are not shown, and are invisible 
from without. But the whole rock is honeycombed with passages and 
modern electric contrivances, making communication easy, and prevent- 
ing possibility of a surprise. The secrets of Gibraltar are well guarded. 
No camera is allowed and no one is permitted to visit the fortifications 
which are of real military importance. 

We have a long wait at the entrance, to register our names. 
Soldiers are walking leisurely to and fro. We are divided into detach- 
ments, and a party of fifteen or twenty are admitted. The sentry then 
passes us, and we are led along past barracks and officers' houses, 
fronted by dainty bits of English gardening, and then, just before a 



58 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



tunnel entrance we are halted by a very courteous but firm sentry. 
We wait again till another division returns — each officer counts the 
number of his party — and we are released to pick our way through the 
damp, dripping rock passage, on and up through one of the famous 
galleries that network Gibraltar. A bright light to the left shows us an 
opening to the outer world. A cannon, probably of obsolete type, 
stands none the less suggestively at the opening. It is by such holes in 
the rock, farther on where guns not obsolete are stationed, and also by 
the pieces of artillery that stand outside at the very summit of the 
mountain of the sea, that Great Britain holds the key of the Mediter- 
ranean in her hands. 

We step out through the opening and are on the precipitous side 
of Gibraltar, but there is foliage and irregularity enough to permit 
moving about with safety. 

A memorable panorama stretches before us. At our feet nestles the 
town, whose breakwaters of solid graystone masonry are backed by a 
file of British warships, while beyond to the north lies Spain. Between 
the two there runs a strip of barren ground, 200 or 300 yards wide, 
the neutral zone that separates the territory of the two nations. To the 
west stretches the blue waters of the bay, and to the far south is seen 
the dim outline of Africa's coast. 

We were told that no foreigner is allowed to stop on the rock over 
night without a permit from the chief of police, and that at night a 
gun is fired, after which the galleries are locked. If you were on the 
main street at this hour you would hear the band playing a stirring 
tune, and the "key sergeant," under special guard, following close 
behind, with the keys in his hand, taking them away to be locked up 
for safe keeping during the night. The gates are unlocked again at 
early gun fire, and the city is then open for the people who live on the 
outside to enter. Sir George White is the present governor of Gibraltar. 
He is the general who was in Ladysmith, South Africa, when it was 
besieged by the Boers, and who held that place until it was relieved. 

Of late years the Mediterranean has become somewhat of a popu- 
lar touring resort for royalty, and many visit this famous fortress at 



Gibraltar. 



59 



Gibraltar. At this time the emperor of Germany was making a three 
days' visit, and his vessel lay at anchor a few hundreds yards from 
us. When landed, some of our party reported really having beheld 
his imperialship. 

From the galleries we passed up the principal street to the post- 
office, and there wrote characteristic postals of the place to friends at 
home. The shops are small, for the rents are very high. The market 
is a very busy and not an inviting place. The costumes of the people 
vary from the commonplace dress of the tradesman to the rich and 
flowing robes of stockmgless Moors, and the soldiers in their coats of 
red and khak i, with bare-kneed Highlanders here and there, and anon 
the typical Tommy Atkins with his peculiar hat, and cavalrymen racing 
their steeds through the streets. 

We looked through the shops for a time and then, at the Grand 
hotel, took our first meal in ten days or more away from the Kur- 
furst. But, withal, we found ways at Gibraltar more American than 
at other places we visited later, for here the English language is main- 
tained ; and, though many other nations are represented, the English 
are greatest in number. 

We hire carriages or walk a distance of two miles to Lima, the 
Spanish town opposite Gibraltar. The strip of neutral ground between 
is a level plain, approximately a mile long and a half mile wide. It is 
said to be undermined, so that in time of danger a gigantic explosion 
would open up a water channel and transform Gibraltar into an island. 
Here sentries of both Spain and England pace constantly to and fro 
in sight of each other, watching with eternal vigilance, lest either should 
menace the other's territory, while several mounted aid-de-camps were 
in readiness a short distance from the custom house. Yet I observed, 
while waiting there, that the officials were apparently all on very 
good terms. 

It was Saturday afternoon, a half-holiday. Many were returning 
from their work, and there were women carrying baskets of eggs, butter, 
fruit and vegetables to Gibraltar. There is a constant procession of don- 
keys laden as they come in with produce, and they go out with no one 



60 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



knows what — except the Spanish custom house officials, who search them 
vigorously. Pedestrians also undergo a thorough inspection at these 
lines. A comely Spanish brunette being refused a pass, gave the official 
a piece of her mind in angry tones in Spanish, and insisted on passing on, 
and then another officer took her in charge, accompanying her in not a 
very gentle manner to the Spanish grounds across the neutral strip, where 
he left her still denouncing the authorities. When I asked the official 
why she was prohibited, he replied that she was not wanted over there. 

Passengers from Gibraltar also have their baggage most thoroughly 
examined, even to feeling in the pockets of one's garments to make sure 
that no contraband articles are smuggled across. We, however, were 
recognized as Americans, and were courteously waved along without ex- 
amination, but carriages were not allowed to pass the boundary. This 
was probably so that we might be compelled to patronize the Spanish 
drivers on the other side, but a short walk amid the unspeakable filth of 
the illy cared for Spanish town satisfied the much curious. There is a 
marked contrast between the two towns in cleanliness, and much besides. 

Picture postals of the rock and Gibraltar, and grass baskets filled 
with Spanish oranges, were the principal souvenirs with which the tourists 
returned to the steamer. On the whole, we are glad that Britain has 
Gibraltar, for beneath the red cross of England are cleanliness, enlighten- 
ment and good order which here prevail, as well as at other places visited 
that are subject to her jurisdiction. 

The first note of sorrow in the cruise was the serious illness of one of 
the young men from Ohio, named Warren Burns, who was stricken down 
six days after sailing with that dreaded disease appendicitis. It was 
thought best to leave him in the hospital at Gibraltar, under the care of 
an old friend of the family, the Rev. Albert J. Nathan. 

In the evening we watched from the steamer deck the receding rock, 
having for its background the setting sun with its crimson light. It was 
one of the most beautiful sights we ever beheld. 

The Mediterranean is the midland sea; the center of the ancient 
world. These seas and shores have been the scenes of almost ceaseless 



Gibraltar. 



61 



wars. In the old days the threat of slavery hung over every sea coast 
settlement. The men of Tyre and Sidon grew rich as traders in these 
waters, and here the fleets of Athens and Corinth, Persia and Greece, 
met in battle, and here the Greeks and Romans met in deadly combat. 
Pompey destroyed the pirate strongholds, and the Roman peace held the 
sea until Augustus and Antony fought out the question of supremacy. 
Then peace reigned for centuries, until the powers of the Saracens arose. 
Then for a thousand years there was no safety except for armed forces. 
The fleets of the Crusaders crossed and retreated. The invasion of the 
Saracen and Turk held one coast line and island as far as Sicily on the 
north and the Pillars of Hercules on the south. And the Corsairs of 
Tripoli, Tunis and Algiers claimed tribute and gave occupation to the 
navy of young America a hundred years ago and more. 



Algiers. 



63 



CHAPTER V. 

Algiers, a Diamond Enclosed in an Emerald. 

ALGIERS. 

Arrive Monday, March 21st, 6 a. m.; breakfast, 7 and 8 a. m.; 
lunch, 11 and 12 a. m.; leave Monday, March 21st, 5 p. m. 

Land on fine large lighters supplied with chairs, and towed by 
tenders. No delay, and only a short distance from steamer to custom 
house. Do not forget your carriage drive tickets. Carriage drives 
half a day. Half of the passengers, namely, those having first sitting, 
thus landing first, will drive in the forenoon from the custom house, 
where passengers land, and the drive will end at noon at the Grand 
Square, opposite the landing place. The other half of the passengers, 
those at the second sitting will stroll through the city during the 
forenoon and start at 1 p. m. from the Grand Square opposite landing 
place for their carriage drive. The drive includes Mustapha Superieur, 
a beautiful drive about 3 miles up the bay and return, visiting Kasbah, 
or castle, on the hill back of the city. Tenders and boats run to and 
fro all day, and passengers can return to the ship for lunch, or buy 
their own lunches on shore at the numerous fine restaurants and hotels. 
Dinner at regular hours on board, and ship sails at 5 p. m. sharp. 
.Last tender leaves the shore at 4:30 p. m. 

HERBERT E. CLARK. 

From Gibraltar, Algiers lies nearly east, in latitude 36 degrees and 
47 minutes north, and longitude 3 degrees and 5 minutes east. The city 
is built on a range of hills rising in amphitheatrical form around an arti- 
ficial harbor. The buildings are principally white, and it is common to 
speak of it as "A Diamond enclosed m an Emerald," so beautiful does 
it appear in its setting of green hills and trees. 

Since 1 830 it has belonged to the French, who have constructed 
along its shores a magnificent quay with a roadway built on arches, and 
who occupy the best portion of the city and suburbs. It has a population 
of nearly 1 00,000, of whom 30,000 are Arabians. 

Algiers was founded by the Arabs in 925. In front of the city 
are great breakwaters, built by the enforced labor of 30,000 Christian 



64 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



slaves, who labored three years at its construction. From the deck of our 
steamer we observed men on two dingy barges, who were busy pumping 
air down to a couple of divers, who are after coal said to be in the hull of 
a sunken barge. Row boats manned by fez-headed natives move about, 
and some of which are helping large lighters in landing the Kurfurst pas- 
sengers. Some boats come to meet us, carrying the welcome sight of the 
stars and stripes, which cause our thoughts to turn homeward. We step 
as best we can from the small boat to the stone steps leading to the street 
or to the top of the wall. The natives are lined up to see us land, and 
leisurely lolling by the street side are crowds of indolent, curious Arabs, 
such as must have watched the arrival and departure of boats in Jaffa or 
Alexandria two thousand years ago. It is here that we get a glimpse of 
the old world in the new century — of things and people that ought to be 
twenty centuries apart. Here on one street were the most fastidiously 
dressed Europeans, turbaned or gunny-sacked bare-legged Moors, Mo- 
hammedan women with their curious flowing white trousers and veils — in 
fact every beturbaned, besheeted and pillow-cased daughter of Africa. 
The costumes of the latter could truthfully be said to be grotesque, if not 
picturesque. 

Here we first began to observe how small is the importance of cloth- 
ing, even in a cold climate, for bare legs and bodies were not uncommon, 
although the day was not very warm. People in the east do not burden 
themselves with clothing. There is no freezing weather, and they become 
accustomed to enduring an amount of exposure to cold that would chill 
our own people. 

While waiting for carriages we were besieged by sellers of beads, 
bracelets, purses and various other articles of Arabic manufacture and 
construction. Arabian women, bearing their burdens from the market, 
were constantly passing. Their bread was very largely made in circular 
loaves, with a hole in the center, and it was not uncommon to see two or 
three of these loaves strung over a woman's arm as she was marching 
home with her purchases. In all these countries bread is carried about 
uncovered. It is baked until it has a hard, thick crust, and the loaves 




6 



Algiers. 



67 



are tossed about like so many bricks, although, on account of its hard- 
ness, it does not gather so much contamination as may be imagined. 

It is said that Algiers was the home of the most rapacious set of 
pirates that ever scoured the Mediterranean, and also that the Algerian 
pirates of today drive cabs. No longer does their victim walk the plank 
into the angry ocean ; he is more profitable on shore. The driver, once 
engaged, is in no hurry. He takes you by what are evidently roundabout 
ways, and chuckles to himself the while to think that you don't know it. 
But this is little matter if you are sight-seeing, for there is something of 
interest to see all along. Said a tourist at Algiers : 

"My driver took me four miles and back to see a mosque a half- 
mile away. And I enjoyed it as much as he did, for every rod of the 
way there was something pleasant to see." 

It is rare for a driver to overheat his horses when driving by the 
hour in any country, and the Algerian driver is an adept at killing time. 

One of our party relates his experience as follows: 

"Our driver had been engaged until noon, but he had covered the 
prescribed route and informed us : 

'Ete es feenish! En midi' (mid-day). 

"I informed him, but he was obdurate, so we gave him our tickets 
and a small fee of bakshish. Evidently something about the coin or 
the amount did not please him, for a flying missile struck my hat, and 
looking around I found he had cast the coins after us. They were eager- 
ly grabbed up by the bystanders, and our driver saw his 'feenish' so far 
as his American passengers were concerned." 

Another experience : An American gentleman particularly desired 
a driver who could speak English. He found one, and agreed to pay 
him double the ordinary price for his services and special attention during 
the afternoon. The carriage started, but at a shop the driver dismounted, 
and after a wordy row with the woman in charge, disappeared inside. 
In a few minutes he came out, as the party supposed, and drove on. 
They asked him about one thing and another; he jabbered something 
unintelligible. Before long it was clear that he was not the English- 
speaking driver they had engaged at a double price; that one had 



68 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



changed places in the shop with another who was now on the box. The 
first one had gone back to be engaged over again, and to repeat the 
trick — at double pay. 

These are but a few specimens of modern Algerian piracy. 

We had a pleasant drive of three hours over a good road over- 
looking the sea, amid trees and foliage of the tropics, then a long drive 
farther out into the country, where houses were fewer. The soil is red in 
color but apparently quite productive. On the way scores of tiny don- 
keys passed us, which were not much larger than a good sized goat. One 
of the natives, sitting comfortably on the extreme rear of one of these little 
fellows, drove the rest. Draught horses pass pulling heavy loads whose 
collars are surmounted by a great leather peak like the horn of a rhinoc- 
eros. We turn, then pass by large stone buildings, and go up an incline 
till we reach the top of the mountain, from which we had a good view of 
the city. Stretching out below and well off from the shore, towering 
above the other vessels, lies the Kurfurst, the word "Jerusalem" in great 
capitals on a huge banner stretched along her side, telling to those who 
can see for miles around, our destination. 

On our return we stopped at the governor's palace. It is a pleasant 
place, within an open court, having a fine garden. 

Close by is the Cathedral of St. Philippe, which was built in 1 79 1 . 
We put on slippers over our shoes before entering the grand mosque, but 
did not perform our ablutions at the fountain in the yard as the true Mo- 
hammedans did. And although it seemed rather cold, they made thor- 
ough work of it. Feet and legs were carefully bathed, then arms, hands 
and face, and the mouth was thoroughly rinsed. Thorough bathing is a 
part of their religion. Abstinence from intoxicants is another, and no one 
can say that some Christians might not learn a lesson from the Mohamme- 
dans in this respect. 

We were somewhat surprised at the bare, uninviting interior. Wor- 
shipers were either lying prostrate or kneeling with their faces toward 
Mecca. We were also in the new mosque not far from the Grand. 

We also observed the French soldiers of Algiers, whose appear- 
ance and dress varied from those of the British soldiers lately seen at 



Algiers. 



69 



Gibraltar, and who brought to our memory the poem of the German sol- 
dier from "Bingen on the Rhine," who lay dying in Algiers. We after- 
ward visited the Arabic quarter. Here the streets are often series of 
stairs rising flight after flight, with little landings between them, or they 
are like a labyrinth of twisting, steep, stone-paved alleys, perhaps twenty 
or twenty-five feet wide. Canyon-like, the walls of the houses rise many 
feet on both sides and shut out the light. On each side, in mere recesses 
in the wall, are shops or booths, and here goes on the life of the people in 
sight of the streets. These people are buying and selling, washing and 
ironing, eating and sleeping, praying and gambling, while never ending 
multitudes of strange figures of the past, men and women, youth and chil- 
dren, walk or dart up and down and in and out. So densely is this part 
crowded that sometimes thirty persons occupy one room. From unex- 
pected alleys, dark and overarched, emerge veiled women, who silently 
mingle with the throng, but retreat hurriedly before the camera. 

Several hundred pilgrims were hurriedly passing down through such 
a long, dark, narrow passage, when a native grabbed at a lady's watch 
chain. This created some little excitement among us. I immediately 
seized a man's arm who was walking near (I hope I may be pardoned 
for the rash deed), and felt more secure and protected till we reached 
the broader and lighter street below. 

We returned to the steamer for lunch, after which we visited the 
French part of the city, made a few purchases and had some experience, 
for the first time, in the use of French money. It was interesting to note 
the purchases made. Arabian beads, bracelets, leather bags and purses, 
and also French flags. A primary teacher was in quest of a large Moor- 
ish ear-ring which undoubtedly could be found more readily in the Ara- 
bian quarter. And I made a few purchases of views and characteristic 
postal cards. 

The French quarter of Algiers is built with great regularity. A long 
line of hotels and business blocks, with colonnades and cloisters, face the 
water front, and rise upon a street boldly carried up on arches and ap- 
proached by an incline parallel with the street above. It is a very hand- 



70 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



seme and impressive structure. Farther from the shore are wide clean 
streets and fine large shops. We became separated from our compan- 
ions, but found others. Soon our friends returned, and after a pleasant 
hour's shopping and sight-seeing we returned to the steamer from the dark 
continent of Africa ; but it was viewed by us in the light of the sunshine, 
and we are hopeful for its bright future. 



Malta. 



71 



CHAPTER VI. 

Malta, the Island "of a Certain Cree£ with a Shore." 

The chief object of our visit to Malta was to view "a certain creek 
with a shore, a place where two seas meet," made memorable by the 
events recorded in the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth chapters of Acts. 
We read the old story again and again, which is as follows: 

In the autumn of A. D. 60, Paul, a prisoner for preaching the gospel 
of Jesus Christ, was put in charge of the centurion Julius and his cohort, 
to be sent to Rome. Luke and Aristarchus, a Christian of Thessalonica, 
accompanied Paul. At Caesarea the soldiers and prisoners took passage 
on a coasting vessel, which stopped at Sidon, then proceeded northwest, 
and came to Myra, a seaport in the province of Lycia. At Myra the 
prisoners were transferred to an Alexandrian corn ship bound for Italy, 
and expecting to complete its journey before the winter storms set in. 
But they met with adverse winds, and found it would be necessary to 
winter on the island of Crete. When they anchored at Fair Havens, 
Paul advised remaining there. 

His advice was not taken, and the ship again set sail, hoping to make 
a more commodious harbor on the same island. But the vessel was 
caught in a gale, and driven past the island of Clauda, into the open sea 
at the mouth of the Adriatic. And for fourteen days and nights the ship 
was in the grasp of a terrific storm. Winds blew and rains fell, and 
neither sun nor stars were visible. The ship drifted and was tossed west- 
ward nearly five hundred miles, and sailors lost all reckoning, and knew 
not where they were. In a night vision to Paul, Jesus promised him that 
not only his own ship, but the lives of all on board, would be saved, 
though the vessel should be wrecked. The apostle gave this cheering 
message to his companions in misery, and urged them to take food, that 



72 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



their bodies mis ht be strengthened. It was evident that they were near- 
ing land, but there was still a hard struggle before them. 

Paul, after giving thanks to God, ate a hearty meal. Others fol- 
lowed his example and were strengthened and cheered. Then all went 
to work, threw the cargo overboard, loosened the ship from its anchors 
and tried to steer the vessel by its rudders to the shore. The ship ran 
aground and began to be dashed to pieces. The centurion took com- 
mand of the little company, and, under his directions, those who could 
swim leaped overboard first and made for the shore ; then those who 
could not swim, by the help of whatever they could seize, followed them. 
"And it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land." 

The natives of Malta did their very best to warm and cheer this 
shipwrecked company of seventy-six persons. As they were gathering 
sticks for a fire a viper fastened upon Paul's hand. From this the 
heathen first thought vengeance was pursuing him, but when they saw 
that he suffered no ill effect from the serpent's bite they regarded him 
with a superstitious reverence. The Roman governor of the island 
lodged some of the company at his home for a short time, Paul being 
among them. The aged father in this home was very sick, and in 
answer to Paul's prayer God healed him. Hearing of this all .other sick 
persons on the island were brought to Paul and were healed. When 
the company set out once more for Rome, three months later, the 
people of the island gave them many gifts. 

The evening before we arrived at Malta an able address was 
given by Rev. George B. Hatch on this subject, and we were some- 
what prepared to view the sights of Malta. Those who were on deck 
early that morning could see a certain bay with a beach, and near it, 
on a small island, stands a great monument in honor of St. Paul. Ap- 
proaching the island from the west we sailed directly past the traditional 
scene of St. Paul's shipwreck. It is an interesting fact that the con- 
formation of the land about St. Paul's bay is such as to confirm the 
uncontradicated tradition concerning the place of the shipwreck. 

We had seen the fairy-like land of the Madeiras at Funchal, and 



Malta. 



75 



in great contrast the powerful stronghold of Great Britain at Gibraltar, 
and at Algiers observed the customs of a peculiar ancient people, 
grotesquely dressed, but we visit Malta to view the place where St. Paul 
made his home for a short time when he was on his way as a prisoner 
to Rome — the greatest herald of the cross that the world has ever 
known — the first land that we have reached of bible history. 

Early came the native peddlers to the steamer when we had an- 
chored, selling Maltese crosses made of various material, beads and 
other articles. But, what attracted the admiration of the ladies most 
was the display of beautiful laces in collars, cuffs, capes and handker- 
chiefs. I made a few purchases, intending to make others later, but 
lost the most favorable opportunity. 

The island of Malta, now belonging to England, is the largest of 
a group of islands. Malta itself is seventeen miles long and nine miles 
wide. It contains about ninety-five square miles. At present it is 
densely populated, and the ground seems to be under cultivation to the 
last square inch. The capital of Malta is Valetta, named after its 
founder, John LaVallette. The name suggests that Malta has another 
reason for fame besides its connection with the history of Paul. 

In the tenth century the order of the "Knights of the Hospital" 
was organized in Jerusalem, for the purpose of caring for pilgrims. 
Later it became a military order under the name of the Knights of St. 
John. Their banner was a cross with eight points, now called the 
Maltese cross. The story of the Knights of St. John is one of thrilling 
interest, representing as it does the age long conflict between Christianity 
and Mohammedanism. For five centuries these knights waged warfare 
in defense of the Christian faith. In the twelfth century their head- 
quarters were in Acre. In the next century they were driven to Cyprus, 
and in the year 1310 they took refuge in the island of Rhodes. Here 
they maintained themselves for 200 years, being known as the Knights 
of Rhodes. Four times in this period the Mohammedans tried to dis- 
lodge them. At length Solyman, the Magnificent, swore by his head 
that Rhodes should be taken. With 200,000 soldiers he attacked 



76 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



the 600 or 700 knights and their few thousand retainers. After four 
months of stout resistance the knights gave out and surrendered. 

Charles the Fifth exclaimed, "Never was anything so well lost 
in the world as Rhodes." It was this monarch who, in 1530, bestowed 
upon the remaining 1 00 knights of the homeless order the island of 
Malta. 

The Mohammedan was still on the track of the knights, and once 
more, in the year 1565, the Turks attacked them and laid siege to 
Malta. It was another four months' siege, and the knights held their 
own so bravely that the Turks finally withdrew, checked in their west- 
ward progress by these brave defenders. The grand master of the order 
at the time was LaVallette, hence the name of the capital of Malta — 
Valetta. In 1 798 Malta was surrendered to Napoleon, and on the - 
fall of that ill-fated general, passed into the hands of England, where 
it remains to this day. 

Valetta is built on a rocky promontory on the northern side of the 
island, looking toward the east. It has a double mouthed harbor, 
strongly fortified. 

Not until one estimates the strength of the fortifications does he 
realize the military importance of Malta. A small island with a few 
trees and not much soil, with mild temperature in winter and excessive 
heat in summer, containing less than 1 00 square miles of barely arable 
soil, could not have proved its importance in history from its own 
productiveness. It is because Malta is so nearly the key of the eastern 
end of the Mediterranean, so easily stands guard over the coasts of 
southern Europe and northern Africa and the Suez canal, that these 
massive fortifications rise tier upon tier on either side of the double- 
mouthed harbor. The city itself is, in size and beauty, out of all 
proportion to the size of the island. It is regularly built, but many of 
the streets are narrow and so steep that they require to be built in steps. 
There is a stairway in Valetta which is called "Nex Mangare' ' (the 
stairs of nothing to eat). 

The interesting sights of Valetta are all connected with the Knights 
of Malta or St. John. Here the floors of the Cathedral of St. John 



Malta. 



77 



are covered with inlaid memorial tablets of such beauty that it seems 
a sacrilege to walk on them. Many of our party lingered lovingly in 
this massive temple of worship. 

The ancient residence of the grand masters, now the governor's 
palace, contains an armory filled with relics of the knights who made 
their last stand on this island of the Mediterranean. The very vastness 
of the accumulation of the suits of mail and implements of crusading 
warfare was the impressive feature of this hall. Valetta has also a 
Capuchin church, or chapel of bones, where the walls are covered, 
every inch of them, with the bones of dead monks. These are arranged, 
with gruesome art, in many fantastic shapes. 

Taking carriages or walking to the station passing through slatted 
gates, we found ourselves in a long, sloping, cemented tunnel, clean 
and white and well lighted, polished brass hand rail running along 
the side, which led us to the track below the street. We board the 
train which conveys us through a tunnel and over the only railroad of 
the island to the "ancient city," five or six miles distant. We ride in 
an open car and find the Malta air quite invigorating. And from the 
car, as far as the eye can see, the country is marked off by high stone 
walls, enclosing small plats of cultivated land, each plat containing a 
flat roofed stone house, forming a part of the wall, and of the same 
height. We observed the absence of chimneys, and no smoke is visible. 
Viewed from a distance, the country appears to be covered by stone 
walls with no appearance of vegetation or habitation. But near us 
as we pass could be seen gardens of various kinds and fields of red 
clover in blossom. The blossom was unlike any we had before seen. 
The stones were thus used to make room for vegetation. Soil has been 
brought by shiploads from Sicily, but the soil of Malta has not the 
quality for luxuriant vegetation, and some one has said, probably hu- 
morously, that the stone walls are built to keep the soil from blowing 
away. 

We arrive at Citta Vecchia and take a carriage to the Grotto of 
St. Paul, where the apostle is supposed to have lived during his three 
months' sojourn on the island. Here stands a chapel, dedicated to 



78 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



St. Paul, and containing a statue of him, said to exercise marvelous 
healing powers. This is but the beginning of the legendary and mar- 
velous events given us as we continue our journey. 

One of the most interesting features of the vicinity is the extensive 
system of catacombs, dating back to the time of Roman sovereignty, 
supposed to have served as hiding places for the early Christians. We 
found it a wondrously interesting place — which we were glad to have 
seen and glad to be out of. Our experience is well described by one 
of our party in the following words: 

The decrepit old fellow who admitted us to the catacombs, and 
after solemnly lighting and handing to each of us a wax candle, 
guided us through that hopeless maze of rock tunnels, took un- 
bounded interest in describing the wonders of the place. His English 
was only better than our Maltese, and his voice was raised as though 
to penetrate deaf ears. Strange and weird they were, those hewn 
cavities and niches and shelves, all dusty and moldering, where human 
bodies once rested, and where, according to our guide, whole families 
lived along with the dead. Coming to a recess with five depressions 
in its floor, he mumbled: 

"Large familee," then pointing to one depression at a time, "fadder, 
mudder, one, two, three children." 

Pointing to an overturned and broken stone altar, he solemnly 
declared: "Moslems built it, Maltese use it, Paul break it." 

The darkness kindly concealed our expressions of countenance at 
this wonderful bit of history. 

Asked if there were any bones in these catacombs, our guide 
joyfully nodded and set off rapidly down, down again into the bowels 
of the earth, calling to us to follow. But we had had quite enough 
of this monster rock-hewn grave, barely high enough to stand in, and 
so narrow that we were touching its side most of the time. We cried 
a halt, and insistently ejaculated, "Out, Out," to the old fellow. 

"I show you bones," he said appealingly. 

"No, we don't want any bones; we want to get out." 

Sorrowfully he led the way. Even then we were helplessly in his 
hands, not knowing whether we were headed for the light or for deeper 
blackness. How beautiful a little gray glimmer of daylight looked, 
when we caught sight of it in the far distance, and we knew that our 
guide had not betrayed us. 

We visited another cathedral, built of delicately tinted stone in 
the form of a latin cross, nearly two hundred feet long and about half 
as wide. It is very richly decorated and is said to occupy the site of 



Malta. 



79 



Publius, the Roman governor of the island at the time of the shipwreck 
of Paul. A Sicilian artist has represented, by paintings in the ceiling, 
the life and shipwreck of the saint. Lifesized portraits of the apostles, 
Paul and Peter, are one on either side of the high altar. It contains 
several alleged relics of the apostles, together with a picture of the 
Madonna, said to have been painted by St. Luke. 

Returning from the cathedral, our companions observed we had en- 
tered a different carriage than that in which we came. We drove rapidly 
away when I missed my parasol. I had left it in the carriage we vacated. 
The driver will probably present it as a gift to his sister or perhaps his 
sweetheart, and I, for a time, can afford to be without one. 

We wait at the neat, comfortable station till the train is ready to 
start, and are surrounded by peddlers selling fruits and various articles. 
Many of the latter are representations of the Maltese cross. British 
soldiers in their gorgeous suits were to be seen in great numbers on the 
streets, at the station; and, in fact, almost everywhere in Malta the 
soldier was to be seen. Several were aboard the train. One very 
talkative soldier said that the term of their service was a period of 
twenty-one years, and that he had but a few years to remain. He gave 
ready answers to our inquiries in regard to the names of places and 
kinds of trees as we passed, though he was aware that we sometimes 
knew differently. 

Passing through the principal streets of Valetta we observed many 
fine buildings. The prevailing style of architecture is a combination 
of the Moorish and the Italian. The people, while of mixed blood, are 
principally of Arabian stock, and their language is largely Arabic. 
The Italian has been, until recently, the language of the courts; now 
the English is the official language. Though Arabian and Moorish 
influences prevail, the people are not Mohammedan, but Roman Catho- 
lics. At street corners or in niches of houses may be seen shrines to 
virgin or saint. The Protestant religion has scant recognition, especially 
when it is considered that the island belongs to the English. 

We stopped for lunch at apparently a comfortable restaurant, but 
did not relish the food. The reason may have been that some dishes 



80 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



set before us could not be named, and we debated as to whether they 
were fish or flesh. Goats furnish the milk and butter, and are as 
common on the streets of Valetta as the British soldier. They go about 
in small droves and appear to be household pets, and are fed on the 
street or at the door, where they wait patiently while being milked of 
the quantity desired, and are then driven to the door of the next 
customer. Of "A Glass of Goat's Milk" sOmeohe has written: 

Two of us were strolling about the streets of Valetta, when the 
daily recurring question of what to drink became prominent. It was 
hot, and the day's sightseeing had been long continued. We did not 
care to drink beer or wine. We were not fond of tea or coffee. There 
was no water to be had which we judged yvas safe. Suddenly there 
was heard the tinkle of a little bell. 

"Look at that," said my companion. 

A small animal appeared in sight, then another, then another. 
They were goats, handsome, thrifty, apparently well fed. Every one 
a milch goat with pendulous udders. In all there were twenty or thirty 
that came around the corner and apparently seemed waiting for some- 
thing to - turn up. In a moment we saw what was happening. The 
man who accompanied them had paused in front of an open door. 
Out came two or three people with small dishes. One of the goats 
was brought up to the edge of the sidewalk, the dishes were filled 
from nature's source of supply, small coins were handed the milkman, 
the bell was again rung and the milkman sought other customers. 

"Here's our chance," said I. 

"You don't mean you would dare to try that stuff," said my com- 
panion. 

"There can't be any question about the purity of the product," was 
my reply. 

With that I pulled out a small folding drinking cup which is al- 
most always my companion on a journey and held it out to the man. 
He understood at once. He spoke a word in his native tongue to a 
large and handsome motherly goat which was standing quietly chewing 
her cud at the edge of the walk. She turned at his command and was 
at his side in a moment. In another moment my drinking cup was 
filled. My companion followed suit. I must confess that I raised the 
draught to my lips with some misgivings and took a doubtful taste. 

"Well, how is it?" said my friend who was watching my motions. 

"Nothing bad about that," said I, "try it." 

He did try it, sipped, tasted, drank the whole cup full, and returned 
it to the man for more. My experience was the same. In our con- 
dition of thirst and fatigue it was simply delicious. Possibly, had 
we been less thirsty and more fastidious, it might have seemed to 
us a little less palatable than good cow's milk. But I can think of no 
single draught for many years that began to be so delicious. 



Malta. 



81 



The shops were inviting, and some of the men of our party pur- 
chased expensive hats, which they carried and stowed carefully in the 
hat box of their baggage room trunk. And the admiration of the ladies 
centered on the beautiful laces displayed in the shop windows. On the 
steamer that evening nearly every lady wore a bit of the Maltese lace, 
and we ever regretted that our purchases had not been greater. The 
lace is hand made. We saw a girl making it, which gave us some 
knowledge in regard to its construction. Silk threads, wound around 
pins in a cushion, are woven in artistic patterns and devices, which 
furnish the beautiful collars, cuffs, capes and handkerchiefs we so 
greatly admire. 

The faldetta, a huge Shaker bonnet and long cape combined, worn 
by the women of Malta, was the one characteristic article of feminine 
apparel. It is made of an oblong piece of black silk, one side of which 
falls a yard or more below the chin, forming one side of the cape. The 
top end is shirred tightly several times, and the third is wired about 
the face and falls to the elbow, forming the right side of the cape. 

Several different parties drove across to St. Paul's bay, where 
there is a fishing station, near which is a chapel with crude old paint- 
ings illustrating the scene of the shipwreck. 

To commemorate this event a square stone tower was also erected 
in 1610, which is still standing. One of the party reported that when 
there they read the xxvii. and xxviii. chapters of Acts, gathered some 
sticks to make a fire, but saw no venomous beasts, and that the natives 
"showed them no little kindness" by furnishing the matches to light 
the fire. 

But many would not have seen this place but for the kindness of 
the captain who, after leaving Valetta at 5 that evening, returned past 
St. Paul's bay, where a good view was obtained from the deck of the 
steamer. 

One of our party writes of his visit to Malta as follows: 

"The Knights of St. John were stalwart fighters and brave, ranged 
on the side of the right. I was glad to have seen their citadel and 
their dented coats of mail. But as I look back upon my visit to the 

7 



82 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

island of Malta, my thoughts are held, not by those crusading knights 
of the medieval centuries, but by a Tarsian soldier who dared, single 
handed, oppose a Roman Centurion and his men; whose armour was 
not steel mail, but who had put upon himself the whole armour of God, 
having girded his loins with truth, and having put on the breast plate 
of righteousness, and having shod his feet with the preparation of 
the gospel peace. His helmet of salvation and his sword of the spirit 
are not left as relics at Valetta, but the whole world may still claim 
them as its own. 



Athens and Mars Hill. 



83 



CHAPTER VII. 
Athens and Mars Hill. 

Athens is in north latitude, 37 degrees and 58 minutes, and in the 
Attic plain, sheltered by Hymettus and Pentelicus, and open to the 
south, luxuriates in a mild mean spring temperature of 61 degrees. 

Ships do not land passengers in Athens. The port of the city is 
called Piraeus, and the distance is five miles from the ancient metropolis 
of Greece. The city lay in view of the ship, its chief points plainly 
visible. We were to remain here three days, and were anxious to get 
ashore, and thought the landing unusually slow. Some went in large 
steam launches or tenders and others in small boats, several of which 
were fastened to a larger launch by means of cables. A long circuit 
was made in order to land the passengers at a wharf near the railroad 
station. As we were passing three Australian battleships, our ship's 
band made us thrill with the rich harmonies of Haydn's splendid 
Australian national hymn. As we moved slowly by the fighting 
machines suddenly the little tender Eupis exuberantly let her steam 
siren shriek, and a rousing laugh went along our deck. 

In the hurry and excitement of landing, one of our friends stepped 
off into the water between the boat and wharf, and was entirely sub- 
merged, except his hat. We all laughed at his plight when we saw 
no great harm had come to him. He took matters cooly, however, re- 
turning to the steamer for dry clothing. During the entire cruise, 
though we made the landing in small boats at each place, except at 
Constantinople, his was the only accident of the kind that occurred. 

When we had landed, the inhabitants of Piraeus showed that 
same exuberant joy at our coming that marked the diving boys of 
Funchal and the peddlers of Algiers. Strings of shells from Salamis 
were urged upon us, small collections of canceled Greek postage stamps, 



84 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



albums of colored views of the temples of antiquity, clever imitations 
of ancient pottery, and even after we were seated in a Beta or Gamma 
(second or third class compartment of the train — there was no time 
to choose compartments while 800 waited), the wares of the Greeks 
were thrust through the car windows and sales were rapidly made. 
Finally the guard's strident brass horn sounded, the venders stepped 
back and we were taken lazily on our way to the one-time center of 
the world's culture. 

Several great factory looking buildings stood at the side of the 
track, places where wine is manufactured, showing that the vine is still 
an important factor in the agriculture of Greece. 

We passed buildings bearing long names in Roman letters, several 
of which seemed to have fallen sideways. Roman letters read in Greece 
have sometimes a different position and significance, as the letter "y" 
has the sound of "u," and "M" laid on its left side is equivalent in 
sound to the letter "s," and various other modifications were noticeable; 
but we would not seek to reconstruct the orthography of the classical 
Greek. We were merely observant. Everything breathed of the classi- 
cal. The most rickety, tumble down little houses we pass are built 
on classical lines. 

Close by the railroad station, where we left the train, stands the 
temple of Theseus, the best preserved of all ancient Athenian temples, 
and with whose appearance we were familiar. It is a quadrangular 
structure surrounded by circular columns which support a low roof. 
Around this structure, just beneath the roof, is a border of deep cut 
carved designs. The same style of architecture is noticeable in all the 
ancient structures of Athens. The Market Gate, with low roofed front, 
supported by two columns on each side of the entrance before which are 
now the broken and decaying portions that have fallen from above and 
obstruct the pathway, is another structure of the same style of architec- 
ture. 

We take a carriage which conveys us to Nymph Hill, from which 
to the north and east could be seen the Acropolis, and to the northwest 
Pnyx Hill. Spending some little time on this height, there viewing other 



■ 

Athens and Mars Hill. 



85 



ruins near, we drive near the heart of the city, to the vicinity of the tem- 
ple of Olympian Zeus. On a long grassy plot of considerable extent 
stands two columns, like sentinels solitary and alone, and several rods 
distant are a group of about twelve. Their stately loneliness is very 
impressive. 

Passing the Arch of Hadrian, we came to the base of the Acropo- 
lis and entered the Theater Odeum, constructed in the second century 
A. D., 1 ,600 years ago. It was indeed a wonderful old place, and a 
short distance farther we spent time in the more spacious theater of Dio- 
nysius. We trod the same hard pavement, sat in the huge stone seats 
and had the same blue sky for a canopy, as had the ancient Greeks who 
met in this artistic place for amusement; but we gather to view the ruins 
which the passing of time and its changes have brought upon them. 
Here an English nurse with a Grecian child particularly attracted our 
attention. Each was as perfect in beauty, form and loveliness as one 
could conceive. The child's picture, as he sat upon a column of the 
theater, was secured by several. The next day we saw the same party 
in the grounds surrounding the king's palace. We may have had a 
glimpse of royalty in its first loveliness. 

We climbed the steep, rugged sides of the Acropolis, and find the 
way around blocks of rock, across a broad plank, to a wide flight of 
broken steps which lead to the portal. 

The Acropolis, "the height of the city," was used in the early war 
times of Athens as a citadel of defense and refuge. Later the temples 
were erected upon it, but the possibility that the strength of the place 
might be needed in time of war was always kept in mind. The mas- 
siveness of the Propylaea and of the retaining walls, where the rock is 
not sufficiently sheer, show the influence of this idea. 

The Propylaea, or portal, is not itself a noble structure. The name 
means "before the gate," and the gate itself is within and above; but 
the Propylaea is the true gate. On the right as one enters is the tem- 
ple of Athena Nike, or Wingless Victory, an architectural gem, only 1 8 
by 27 feet, with four columns at either end, thirteen and one-half feet 
high. Passing through the Propylaea, and ascending the roadway cut 



86 



« 

A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



out of the rock, one sees to the left of the Parthenon the Erechtheum with 
its exquisite portico of the maidens. These statues, which are caryatids, 
are the only marbles left intact on the Acropolis. Even of these, one is 
in terra cotta, to supply the place of the one wrenched from the place 
by Lord Elgin for the benefit of the British museum. Since then tour- 
ists with relic hunting propensities are carefully watched. 

The Parthenon is recognized as the most perfect monument of an- 
cient art. Even in its ruins it inspires the deepest admiration. It 
crowns the Acropolis, and stands 500 feet above the sea, amid ruins 
of other and only less famous buildings. It is built of Pentelic marble, 
and the architects were Phidias and Ictinus; but Pericles, who procured 
the money and encouraged the erection of the building, is counted the 
real builder. This building came down almost to our own time in com- 
paratively good repair, and was wrecked by a bomb fired by the Vene- 
tians in 1 687. The Turks, who held the Acropolis, had stored their 
powder in the Parthenon, and its explosion laid in ruins the most beauti- 
ful structure that we have inherited from the ancient world. 

These buildings of the Pentelic marble are not white, but a rich, 
light brown, more restful to the eye, as time has stained and softened the 
glistening whiteness of former days. However glorious the Acropolis 
must have been in the days when she bore her crown in unspotted white, it 
is a blessing that time has chastened the luster of the ruins. Were these 
in white, the Acropolis would seem a veritable cemetery, with its noble 
buildings standing in their own nude skeletons as tombstones above the 
graves of their dead glory. As it is, they are the faded and unobtrusive, 
but still magnificent, survivals of their former selves, standing neither in 
the proud arrogance of their pristine white, nor yet in the hopeless black 
of abased desolation, but in the soft and mellow brown of cheerful but 
subdued reminiscence. 

Close by the Acropolis is Mars Hill. It is, and probably always 
has been, a rough hill. The overhanging rocks on one side form a cave 
of some little extent. The steps are so worn and broken that the ascent 
is made with some difficulty. Boys are near who offer to assist, and 
who break off and for a trifle give to the tourist bits of the red conglom- 



C5> 

© 
© 



— 

Co 



Athens and Mars Hill. 



89 



erate, with yellow crystals here and there in it, of which the hill is com- 
posed. The formation is more noticeable because the Acropolis is a 
light limestone. 

About 500 of our party partook of their mid-day meal at the Hotel 
Grand Bretagne, and the others fared sumptuously at other equally 
good hotels. The first course of bread and butter, which in quality 
was all that could be desired, a large hard-baked bun was placed by 
the side of each plate. After ripe pickled olives having a slightly acid 
and fatty taste, followed courses of meat and fowl, ending with de- 
licious fruit, but no coffee. It seemed to be expected that wine would 
be ordered, but we were not a company of wine drinkers, and partook 
freely of the fresh, cool water graciously provided. We were also 
supplied with the wide famed honey of Hymettus, so tempting and de- 
licious that tins of it were purchased to carry back to our friends at 
home. 

Athens was the first place where we might expect to receive mail, 
and the following mail notice was handed us: 

"Home letters" will reach the ship at Athens. . 

"Postal clerks" have been appointed to receive and distribute mail. 
The plan admits of no delay, no confusion and no handling of letters 
except by the "postal clerks." 

Letters will be delivered Friday evening at 8:45 as follows: All 
persons whose names begin with letters from A to Q inclusive will 
go to forward dining saloon. Names from A to G inclusive will enter 
the right hand door. Names from H to Q inclusive will enter the left 
hand door. After receiving your letters please pass quickly out by 
the center aisle. It will aid the delivery of the mail if one person would 
get letters for several friends. 

In the "aft dining saloon" the same general plan is arranged for 
those whose names begin with the letters from R to Z inclusive. 

THE COMMITTEE. 

And the office of the Grand Bretagne became thronged when it was 
known that the mail of the Kurfurst party was there to be distributed. 
Mail not here called for was distributed aboard the Kurfurst that same 
evening. We rested and refreshed ourselves in the beautifully fur- 
nished rooms of the hotel and waited for carriages to convey us to dif- 
ferent places of interest. 



90 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

Some visited the American school which is supported by our home 
American colleges, others viewed the National museum, where the various 
contents are viewed rapidly by the casual tourist and forgotten as rap- 
idly. A member of our party possessed of exceedingly acute memory 
(probably afterward aided by reference to his notebook), is said to 
remember that notices in both Greek and French posted on the walls of 
the museum forbade giving "tips" to the attendants. As such stipula- 
tions are few they are apt to be well remembered. Near the museum 
is a yard of green, laid out in Grecian designs in flowers and foliage, 
products of the living present, linger beautifully in my memory. We 
passed fine public buildings into the business portion. Before the shop 
doors are groups of men sitting at pavement cafe tables drinking coffee 
and smoking from long, crooked-stemmed pipes. 

We observed at Gibraltar and Malta the British soldier in his 
gorgeous clothing and peculiar hat; also the French soldier at Algiers; 
but the soldier seen in Athens in his fancy skirt which sticks out like the 
draperies of a ballet dancer, and with red pompons on the toes of his 
shoes, makes a picturesque and striking figure. 

Passing up the street, we met a long line of Athenian children just 
out of school, apparently as happy and bright as a similar group of 
American children. 

Taking the train at the Monastir station for Piraeus, there small 
boats brought us to the steamer. The next morning we returned to 
Athens, and passing through the business portion, we attempted to do 
some shopping. I wished to purchase a parasol to replace the one I 
had left at Malta. Other articles were wanted, but the Grecian shop- 
keepers could not understand English, and we were unfamiliar with 
the Greek language, and so, few purchases were made. However, we 
had but little trouble in learning the value of Greek currency. Others 
had difficulty in finding the office of the United States consul general, 
but as we were viewing new and interesting scenes it mattered little, 
though we knew not where we were, and could not converse with those 
who might inform us. However, we found the way to many of the 
principal places of interest. 



Athens and Mars Hill. 



91 



We were admitted to the king's palace in groups of about forty 
each. Guards stood about the entrances. A guide conducted us 
through the spacious and elegantly furnished rooms, which seemed so 
silent and lonely in their magnificent grandeur. The king's grand chair 
stood at the side of a long room through which we passed. Leading to 
it on the soft, rich carpet were the marks of dusty footprints. It was 
reported afterwards that a democratic American deemed himself worthy 
to a seat in the king's chair, and exceptions were taken to this demon- 
stration of American freedom (the American asserting that he merely 
stepped up to the chair to observe better a painting on the wall above) . 
If our friend entertained sentiments reaching to the attainment of a seat 
in high places, may it not be quenched by the righteous indignation of 
the Greek. There is a seat at Washington, our national capital, to 
him greater than any other, to which any true born American may 
hopefully aspire, a chair worthy of the highest ambition an American 
can conceive. 

The next morning, after returning from the steamer to Athens, we 
took carriages to the Stadium, near the entrance of which I found an 
omen of good luck — a small iron horseshoe, probably that of a don- 
key, lost in conveying material for the building in construction. What 
more good fortune could be mine I could not conceive, for my eyes had 
already feasted on grand and beautiful scenes. 

The Panthenaic Stadium, a famous scene of athletic contests, in the 
southeast part of the city, is now being restored in marble of glistening 
whiteness, by a patriotic Athenian. The arena measures 109 by 670 
feet, and is bordered on its long sides and its semicircular ends by the 
slopes which support the seats for the spectators. There are about sixty 
tiers of seats, and an audience of 50,000 can be accommodated. In 
the erection of this structure Greece will have a monument pure and 
white in its newness, to reveal that she is yet living. With the pale blue 
sky above, this great marble semicircle of spotless white, sparkling in 
the bright sunshine, gives a pleasing effect and contrasts greatly with the 
subdued mellow hues of the older structures. 



# 



92 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



As we left the stadium a funeral procession passed. Strange it 
was to the American eyes. At the head of the line slowly walked a 
man carrying upright the lid of the coffin inscribed with Greek letters. 
Delta Kappa in white and purple flowers were draped around it; and 
there followed two men, a white Greek cross on each of their backs, 
carrying aloft a golden cross. A carriage of mourners or friends pre- 
ceded the hearse. In the casket lay the dead, the bearded face fully 
exposed to the gaze of the passers by, while purple and white flowers 
were strewn about. A few more carriages and a little company on 
foot made up this witness to the passing life. 

After lunch at the Grand Bretagne we took carriages to an ancient 
church not far distant, then drove some distance northeast from the city 
to Mount Lycabettus. This high hill, 900 feet above the sea level, 
bears upon its summit the small church of St. George, to be reached 
only by steep and exceedingly difficult climbing. We reached the top 
after about an hour, and found the spectacle rewarding, for in the 
distance stretched the waters of the Bay of Salamis; before us near at 
hand the Attic plain; the Acropolis itself over against us, and seem- 
ingly not a stone's throw away, and near a flock of goats were 
feeding. Our guide led us down a different way, and we soon learned 
that the "blind was leading the blind," but we climbed about as best 
we could for some time till near the foot of the hill we came to a 
barbed wire fence, which we were forbidden to climb, even if we had 
wished to. Dogs came out barking furiously. The guide at last gave 
some boys a few coins to show us the way out. The rock formation 
of the mountain contained many yellow crystals similar to those found 
on Mars hill. With Lycabettus so near at hand, to ascend and stretch 
one's fibers, the numerous athletic grounds of the city seemed super- 
fluous. If the Athenians would but climb this height to attend divine 
service at St. George's chapel each morning, other exercise would be 
entirely unnecessary. We stopped again at the Acropolis and at Mars 
hill, returning to the station. 

Sunday morning, being landed at Piraeus, we found our way to a 
church called Holy Spirit, where for a short time we listened to the 



Athens and Mars Hill. 



93 



services. On the steps of the church and about the door were venders 
loudly crying their wares. Bread, fruit and trinkets were offered for 
sale as on other days, except about the church doors they were more 
numerous. Apparently they regarded but slightly the instruction in 
the fourth commandment, "To remember the Sabbath day and keep 
it holy." 

At 10 a. m. was found our company of 800 seated upon Mars 
hill. Rising almost up against us to a lofty height is the Acropolis, 
crowned with the Parthenon, which, even in decay, is incomparable. 
The low hill on which we are seated, hardly more than sixty feet 
high, has the larger place in our interest. For grandeur we might 
have gathered upon the Acropolis, or upon a still higher mountain, 
close by, on which are the remains of the Pnyx, formerly a town meet- 
ing place for the people. But our hearts were on Mars hill, be- 
cause the apostle Paul had stood there and preached a living God to 
the men of Athens, who ignorantly worshiped other gods. We seat 
ourselves on the hillside as did the hearers on that day, but a different 
spirit is in us. We desire, not as they did, to hear a new thing, but 
the old, old story of Jesus and his love. And 800 disciples of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, from the uttermost parts of the earth, gather themselves 
together upon the Hill of Mars, that they may honor the memory of 
that fearless disciple of old, and in his footsteps worship the master 
whom he served, while praying for the turning to Christ of this city 
with which he pleaded. 

Even the steps to the summit were filled, and below, the carriages 
of some who did not attempt to climb, were added to the congregation, 
while Athenian fruit venders, soldiers and idlers made up a crowd such 
as listened curiously on the outskirts of Paul's audience almost 2,000 
years ago. A little group of the members of the Greek Evangelical 
church stood modestly apart by itself at the base of the rock. The 
Christian Conquest flag, bearing the cross and the words, "By this 
Sign Conquer," was unfurled, and fluttered out over the city. 

The service began with joyful recognition of our leader, "All Hail 
the Power of Jesus' Name." Then, not to an unknown God, but to 



94 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

our Lord Jesus Christ, revealed to us in all fullness, prayer was offered 
by the Rev. J. M. Lowden, who voiced in reverent eloquence the hopes 
and the gratitude of those for whom he spoke. He prayed for a bless- 
ing upon the city in which we stood, and upon that nation, that it might 
come to know and to serve the master; for a blessing upon the super- 
intendents and teachers and pastors of the home land; and for the 
touching of the lips and the hearts with power from on high, of the 
servant who was now to speak to us. 

President Gates, of Robert college, at Constantinople, led the con- 
cert reading of the familiar account, in the xvii. chapter of the Acts, 
of Paul's address delivered from the hill upon which we stood, probably 
in the year 51 A. D. Then followed a sermon by Dr. John Potts, 
of Toronto, standing in the same place, on the same theme, a wide 
world subject, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is as follows: 

Paul was the greatest man of the first century, and, indeed, of all 
the centuries, next to the man Christ Jesus — great in scholarship, 
great in masterful eloquence, great in moral heroism. But Paul had 
a fourth characteristic; he was great in Christlike grace of humanity. 
Amidst these immediate surroundings, the apostle Paul, in lonely 
grandeur, in the midst of philosophers and a miscellaneous crowd, 
proclaimed the glorious gospel of Jesus and the resurrection. He was 
surrounded by those who took little account of him, and thought 
little of him. You remember some said, "What will this babbler say?" 
Others said, "He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange Gods," be- 
cause he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. Therefore, 
the place where we, in the providence of God, are gathered together 
this morning, has a significance all its own. 

To preach Jesus and the resurrection is to preach a subject that 
occupies a large place in the New Testament scriptures. But some- 
body says, "Ah, but the story is not exactly the same in each and all 
of these." 

Let any four intelligent men be asked to write the history of 
Athens according to their culture, and according to their viewpoint, 
and their histories will be substantially the same, and yet with a 
variety of handling and detail. In the gospel according to Matthew, we 
have the message from the angel and the command from the Master 
that they were to go into Galilee, and the record of the meeting in 
the mountain in Galilee. Turn to Mark, and you have the question of 
the women, "Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the 
sepulcher?" In Luke the walk and talk to Emmaus. In John, the 
story of Mary searching for the body of her Master; and the revelation 



Athens and Mars Hill. 



97 



of Christ, in one word, and that one her name, Mary. "And she turned 
herself and said unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master." 

And if you pass from the gospel to Acts of the Apostles, in the 
early chapters especially, from Peter's pentecostal address to Paul's 
defense, you have the record of the resurrection. "And with great 
power the apostles gave witness of the resurrection, and great grace 
was upon them all." Pass to the epistles, and every epistle is based 
upon the resurrection. None of the apostolic letters could have been 
written but for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Come to the book of 
Revelation, and there you have the fact and the doctrine of the gen- 
eral resurrection. Listen to that meditorial declaration in the first 
chapter, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold I am alive 
forevermore!" 

There is no subject in the New Testament used for so many pur- 
poses as the glorious resurrection. Think of it today in relation to 
salvation: "Who was delivered up for our offenses, and was raised 
again for our justification?' Think of it in relation to hope and 
heaven: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto 
a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Think 
of it in relation to bereavement: "I would not have you be ignorant, 
brethern, concerning them which are asleep; for if we believe that 
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also, which sleep in Jesus 
will God bring with him. Wherefore comfort one another with these 
words." Think of it in relation to spiritual life and work: "If ye then 
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ 
sitteth on the right hand of God." "That I might know him and the 
power of his resurrection." 

To preach Jesus and the resurrection is to preach a triumphantly 
vindicated Christ. Suppose the grave had not been vacant on the 
morning of the third day; suppose the Roman seal had not been 
broken; suppose the stone had not been rolled away. What then? 
Why, Jesus Christ an impostor and Christianity a dismal failure and 
a fraud. 

But in the revelations of the word of God, from Paradise lost to 
the fullness of time, we have a beautiful unfolding of Christ. He might 
have wept over Jerusalem; He might have been arrested; He might 
have been condemned; He might have been crucified; but if He had 
not risen from the dead He would not have been vindicated. But on 
the morning of the third day the bonds of death were broken, and 
our triumphant Jesus stepped forth! And therefore to preach Jesus 
and the resurrection is to preach a triumphantly vindicated Christ. 
Again, to preach Jesus and the resurrection is to preach a gloriously 
complete gospel. What is a complete gospel? The gospel of culture 
is not complete. How it beautifies; how it enriches us intellectually. 
But neither philosopny nor literature has the power to regenerate a 
depraved man. 

8 



98 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



A gospel of Pharisaical observances and rites and ceremonies is not 
complete, for I hear the great Teacher say: "Except your righteous- 
ness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall 
in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." 

The gospel of rationalism is not complete. One says, "I want a 
gospel without a miracle; I want a gospel without the supernatural." 
My brethren, you cannot have it. The late Professor Drummond said: 
"Science without mystery is unknown. Religion without mystery 
would be absurd." It must be a gospel exactly adapted to a man's 
needs, there must be the gospel of reconciliation to meet man's alien- 
ation. And I read, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto 
himself." And then man is not only alienated from God, but he is 
a transgressor of the law. And I read that "Christ Jesus was exalted 
a Prince and Savior to give repentance unto Israel and remission of 
sin." 

Then I find that man is defiled, and "the blood of Jesus Christ 
cleanses from all sin." Then I find that man is a mortal being, 
and there is the hungering and thirsting heart that can be satisfied 
with nothing less than God in Christ Jesus — Christ the atoner, the 
pardoner, the purifier and the pattern and pledge of the resurrection 
of his people. He says, "I go to prepare a place for you." And 
therefore the gospel of Jesus and the resurrection is the only com- 
plete gospel! 

The preaching of Jesus and the resurrection is the only hope for 
the world's evangelization. All other refuges are refuges of lies. 
But, thanks be to God, in the preaching of Jesus and the resurrection 
we have a message for those of every country and nation and people 
and tongue. There comes a time in the history of every man when 
a certain old question is asked, which you will .find in the book of 
Job: "If a man die, shall he live again?" And science frankly says, 
"We know nothing of the resurrection." Then I ask philosophy, "If 
a man dies shall he live again?" And philosophy says, "I admit there 
may possibly be a hereafter and immortality and resurrection, but I 
have no answer that can wipe your tears away." But this Sunday 
morning I hear the sound of the church bells, and it does not matter 
whether I find my way into the cathedral, or the conventicle, or on 
Mars' Hill, the glorious message of Christ's resurrection will be there 
to meet me. 

The preacher of the morning said: "We will open the exercises 
of worship with Montgomery's hymn." 

"Forever with the Lord! 

Amen, so let it fce! 
Life for the dead is in that word, 

'Tis immortality." 

And after a prayer I heard him say, "We will read for our lesson 
today the eleventh chapter according to St. John." And the inimitable 
narrative is read, and Christ and Martha meeting, and I hear her say, 



Athens and Mars Hill. 



99 



"Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." And then 
Jesus said unto her, "Thy brother shall rise again." And then the 
grand woman grasps the thought of the general resurrection, and she 
says: "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last 
day." 

And then the son of God flung out upon the ears of our poor 
humanity one of the grandest sayings of the New Testament: "I am 
the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me 
shall never die." Then I hear the preacher say: "We will take our 
text this morning from the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to 
the Corinthians." And he begins to read at the twentieth verse, that 
wonderful verse which contains both the facts and the doctrine of 
the resurrection: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become 
the first fruits of them that slept." 

And then I see him climb that Alpine height of the resurrection 
argument until he reaches the summit, and I hear him utter the 
apostrophe: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy 
victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the 
law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

Without the preaching of Jesus and the resurrection there could 
have been no proper idea of the value of childhood; therefore, no 
Sunday School. But now I see the individual school; I see the town- 
ship organization; the county organization; the state and provincial 
organization; the international organization; and we shall see the 
World's Convention in a few days in Jerusalem. 

But for the preaching of Jesus and the resurrection, there would 
have been no cruise, there would have been no religious and joyful 
fellowship on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the great sea of 
the Bible, and there would be no outlook for Jerusalem, where we 
shall stand where Jesus stood; where in Gethsemane's garden we shall 
thrill with sympathy for our suffering Savior. When we stand upon 
Calvary we shall look up in the midst of that glory and think of 
Him who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, be- 
cause he preached unto them as I preach unto you today, "Jesus is 
the resurrection." 

Then followed the solo, "Wonderful Story," and the doxology, 
"Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow." With hearts thrilled 
with this subject of the resurrection we ascend the Acropolis, close by, 
to view again these scenes for the last time before we leave the city. 

Not far from the station we enter an ancient walled cemetery of 
considerable extent, containing peculiar monuments and walled burial 
plats. We think of the many who have viewed these same scenes who 



100 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



here wait till the final resurrection warning of the last day. We re- 
turn to the steamer, and after lunch, at about 3 p. m., sail for 
Constantinople. 

On the run between Piraeus and Constantinople those requiring 
a Turkish tezkera, or passport, were required to make application at 
the ship's office, room 101, at the crowded door of which I received 
a folded document at the top of the outside of which, written in English, 
was the name, "Mr. J. Scott." I observed to the somewhat uncourteous 
clerk that this was not my name, when he replied that I ought to be 
content with any name in this strange land. For years, it is true, 
when other names failed to be bestowed, the same plain name remained 
mine. Why he thought I ought to be content with another name I 
cannot imagine. Among the mementos of the cruise I treasure a 
Turkish tezkera, or passport, describing the personal appearance and 
bearing a name other than my own, it may be. 

Several of our party made a flying trip to Corinth, the city of the 
two seas. One of whom writes the following: 

We first pulled up at Eleusis. With curious eyes we looked out 
upon the insignificant town which has contributed much to the world's 
history. Through our car window we caught sight of Salmis island. 
The last stopping place before arriving in Corinth was Megara. 
Euclid, the philosopher, was born there in the fifth century B. C. As 
our train drew near to Corinth we were keen on catching sight of 
the canal three miles long, which enables small crafts to cross from 
the Egean to the Ionian sea. The recent opening of the undertaking 
only consummated a work conceived by several Roman emperors, but 
actually commenced by Nero. Our train swept over the bridge, but 
we had time to see advantageously the historic line of water 200 feet 
below, and, on our return trip, saw a ship therein. In the faraway 
Roman days, on one section of the isthmus a little to the north, ships 
were hauled from gulf to gulf by means of rollers and ropes. What 
tugs of war and fun for the boys of those days! We stayed in 
Corinth railway station only long enough to take some refreshments, 
purchase some ubiquitous post cards, and engage carriages. Soon 
we were outside modern Corinth, with its 7000 inhabitants, and on 
our way through smiling pastures and plowed fields. We had covered 
about three miles, when, reaching a ridge, Corinth suddenly burst on 
our view. In another mile children came out to greet us, bounding 
with delight. They presented us with wild flowers, and several 
cameras were of course turned on them. A few coins made them leap 



Athens and Mars Hill. 



101 



with even more delight. Another half mile brought us through the 
village streets to the center, where we paid a visit to a small museum. 
We were then shown the remains of what is said to have been the 
Jewish synagogue. If the authenticity of the place can be established, 
the house of Justus was hard by. Where did Paul live and preach? 
Where did he make tent cloth out of goat's hair? Where were Aquila 
and Priscilla, the proprietors of the tentcloth manufactory in which 
Paul worked? Where were the domiciles of Aquila, Priscilla, Caius, 
Stephanus, Silas, Timotheus, Luke, Apollos and others? An old 
Roman house with baths we did certainly see, but the other buildings 
which made Corinth such an important city probably lie buried several 
feet below the present surface. 

We inspected a temple built in Doric style, one of the most 
ancient in Greece. We mounted our donkeys, which, driven mostly 
by Corinthian women, were to carry us to the Acro-Corinthus of 
history, or the mountain capital of Corinth. The ride was exhilarating. 
After zigzagging for about an hour over a stony road, we reached 
towering fortifications, the architecture of which bore testimony to 
the fact that, impregnable as the position was, the fortress had 
changed hands several times. Dismounting, we passed through the 
triple walls by gates in good preservation. Within the walls we 
found a huge but hilly space, where, in Xenophon's days, a large city 
stood. A fort with such excellent defenses, so many springs, and a 
space for raising crops, ought to have been able to hold out against the 
longest siege. Only the most persevering climbers reached the top. 
The sight we beheld was superb and alive with historic associations. 
Athens lies east across the sea that flows in from the Grecian Archi- 
pelago. To the west is the sea that flows from the Adriatic, beyond 
which towers the famous Parnassus, with the even more famous 
Delphi at its base. Beneath, spread out like a carpet, is the isthmus 
which keeps these seas within their proper bounds, and caused Corinth 
to be called the "City of the Two Seas." 

On the northern base of the citadel on which our feet rested, 
Corinth once stood in all her glory. We were only able to see a few 
ruins, but they served to indicate that the present canal is constructed 
almost parallel with the old wall. It would be interesting to try to 
estimate the strategic military value to Greece of the narrow neck of 
land, and the narrow mountain pass, and the narrow strip of sea south 
of the present canal. Some eight miles from the site of ancient 
Corinth stands all that is left of Cnchreae, where Phoebe lived, who 
carried the manuscript of Paul's epistle to Rome, and the port from 
which Paul sailed at the time that his friends wept, fearing they 
would see his face no more. Between the place where the temple of 
Neptune stood and this ancient port, the grave of Diogenes has been 
located by a very exact historian. Soon we had passed through the 
fortifications, and were again mounted. While musing in regard to the 
events of these surroundings my donkey had carried me down the 
hill arid was enjoying himself at a watering trough. I walked into 



102 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



the village and made friends with the village people. Because I took 
a Corinthian baby out of the arms of its mother, I was invited into 
the house and offered wine. Instead of the wine I asked for water; 
the drinking of which pleased them equally well. Soon we were all 
in our carriages and Corinth was receding from our vision. The 
whole village seemed to come out to pay us respect; the children ran 
till their strength failed. My last memory of Corinth has in it these 
frolicsome children, clothed with clouds of dust; and some Corinthian 
mothers waving white cambrics at the windows of their homes. 



Constantinople. 



103 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Constantinople, the City of the Bosphorus. 

We received the following notice before our arrival at Con- 
stantinople : 

PASSPORTS IMPORTANT. 

Consul General Dickinson, at Constantinople, is making every 
effort to facilitate the landing of our passengers, and he has suggested 
that each passenger hold his or her own passport. 

It has been arranged that all passengers not holding a passport 
will meet one of our directors in the smoking room at 5:30 p. m., where 
Consul General Dickinson will meet them and will arrange to vouch 
for them. 

Those holding passports will form line on the side furthest from 
the dock, beginning at the entrance to the companion way by the 
ladies' saloon (upper promenade deck) after ship ties up, then pass 
before the long table in the passage, deposit their passports with chief 
of police there, passing out on to the deck by the entrance on side 
nearest the dock, dispersing there without any unnecessary delay, in 
order to facilitate matters. 

During the entire stay in Turkey and Palestine, please be sure 
and have your passport ready for inspection at any time; if you have 
a tezkera keep it always with your passport. 

HERBERT E. CLARK. 

A FEW IMPORTANT SUGGESTIONS. 

Members of the cruise will observe the sai^ie reverence for 
churches and mosques visited as they are accustomed to observe 
in their churches at home. 

If we accept the services of any attendant in a church, mosque or 
other place, as mall fee in silver is expected. When several persons 
are together in one group one fee may be paid for the company. 

Members are cautioned against taking undue liberties in places 
visited. Photographs or snapshots of women or defacing ruins to 
secure a souvenir in Turkey are crimes punishable by imprisonment. 
Photos must not be taken in churches or mosques. 

Please observe Dr. Jessup's words of caution against loud talking 
or speaking the names of the rulers of the countries visited while on 
the streets or other public places, and the exhibition of flags or other 
national insignia. 

THE COMMITTEE. 



104 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The American pilgrims were extended the courtesies and freedom 
of Constantinople. This privilege was an exceptional one, and in no 
city that we visited were we more kindly received or hospitably treated. 
And we, in return, were glad that the consul general himself could 
say, as he did, before the Kurfurst left Constantinople, that the visit 
of the American Sunday school pilgrims was one of the most pleasant 
memories of his official experiences in that capital. 

The population of Constantinople is about 900,000. 

It was after a reign of over ten years in Rome over the western 
half of the empire that in a series of battles, culminating in a great 
victory over Licinius at Adnanople, A. D. 323, Constantine came to 
be the undisputed sovereign of the whole world. He thereupon boldly 
changed his capital from its former seat at Rome, selecting the ancient 
city of Byzantium as the new center of the empire. 

The advantages of this city, which he rebuilt about A. D. 330, 
and renamed Constantinople in his own honor, had not been appre- 
ciated until the genius of Constantine selected it as the one place in 
his vast dominions which combined a central position with the remark- 
able capacities for defense and offense against invaders, as also for 
trade, commerce and political strategy. 

The city is delightfully situated on the confines between Asia and 
Europe, and between the Euxine and the Mediterranean. It has a 
beautiful harbor called the Golden Horn, inaccessible from Asia ex- 
cept by water, while it can be made impregnable from the west. The 
narrow waters of the Hellespont and the Bosphorus, the natural gates 
of the city, can be easily defended from hostile fleets. The city is 
even today, as some one has well said, more favored by nature for 
commerce, for safety and for dominion, that any other spot on the face 
of the earth. 

Few cities present so attractive an appearance from the harbor. It 
surrounds the bay where the ships he at anchor, and is divided into 
three parts by the Bosphorus, with Scutari to the right in Asia, and 
the Golden Horn, with its fresh water separating Pera and Galata, 
on the east from Stamboul, or Constantinople proper. But Stamboul 



Constantinople. 



107 



is a peninsula, thrust out so far between the opposite shores that Galata 
really lies north of it, rather than east. The two headlands of Scutari 
and Stamboul mark the confines of the sea of Marmora and the begin- 
ning of the Bosphorus. There are no bridges across the Bosphorus, 
but there are two across the Golden Horn, into which empty "the sweet 
waters of Europe." 

About 5 p. m. we arrived in port. The crowd of orientals that 
thronged the dock made it a picture long to be remembered. For the 
first time since leaving America the Kurfurst had docked again. Three 
weeks before, she had drawn up her gangplank from the shores of the 
country whose history is a bare 400 years; now that gangplank was 
resting on soil of a city 2,500 years old. The companion way leading 
from the main dining saloon, as we came up from dinner that evening, 
was dotted with uniforms and fezzes. Seated by the long table at 
the head of the companion way were dark, fine looking Turkish officers, 
resplendent m gold braid, and insignia officials were also stationed at 
each side of the stairway, both at the top and below. On our star- 
board the city lay beneath us. 

The great city of the Turkish empire is nearly four degrees of lati- 
tude north of Athens, and we found at once that the climate was cooler. 
Unfortunately the city itself was suffering from what was to them a 
cold wave, and for the first time since leaving New York in zero 
weather, steam was turned on in the cabins of the ship. The temper- 
ature was not freezing, "though some reported that at an early hour 
white frost was to be seen on the deck." But there was a chilly and 
penetrating wind like that which we experience in our early March 
weather. 

No ladies left the boat that evening, and but few men. The ex- 
perience of the brave is as follows: 

We went ashore in Constantinople the first night, notwithstanding 
we had been assured that danger would threaten us if we did, and 
had a three hours' walk by moonlight. The street patrol may seem 
ridiculous, but it is wonderfully efficient. People who are out at 
night in Constantinople are supposed to be either on some sinister er- 
rand or to have some very imperious public business. Our own party 



108 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



was shadowed from the moment we left the boat until it returned. 
.': seemed to be the business of the police to know what everybody 
v as doing. The streets were, however, very quiet and we met few 
people except the occasional bands of police patrol, who wander in 
squads of four or five each, armed to the teeth with guns, pistols and 
knives and looking like banditti instead of policemen. 

What interested me was not their fierce appearance and tremen- 
dous armament, but the fact that each one seemed to be wrapped in 
several coats. I am sure that one of them whose coat front was partly 
unbuttoned had on four great coats, but the most thrilling and novel 
thing came at 9 o'clock in the comparative quiet. We heard a long 
high note which we did not understand. It was hard to tell whether 
it was produced by human voice or by a stringed instrument. In a 
minute we heard it again and again from another direction. It proved 
to be the muezzin's call to prayer. Every mosque has a minaret, and 
there are three hundred of these mosques in the city of Constantinople. 
These minarets are in charge of muezzins, religious officers, selected 
largely for their strong and splendid tenor voices. Five times a day 
a muezzin steps to the platform of each minaret and utters the call 
' i prayer. "It is better to pray than to sleep," he says, and his long, 
high, sweet tones echo and reecho, penetrating even the bustle and 
noise of the street. The devout Mohammedan, hearing the call, turns 
his face toward Mecca and offers his prayer. The sweet, strong note, 
although spoken in a strange language, I shall long remember. 

Among the other things that seemed wonderful to us during this 
evening walk in the great city, were two which were particularly notice- 
able. First, the total absence of drinking places. It would be hard 
to find a saloon or drinking place in all Stamboul, the old Turkish city. 
In the more modern and European cities drinking places were open 
and were patronized in some degree, but there was very little evening 
carousing and drinking as compared to that which would be revealed 
in a similar evening's walk in London or Paris. 

The second, which forced itself upon our attention from the very 
start, was the innumerable number of dogs which live in the streets 
and act as scavengers. People who traverse Constantinople in the day- 
time see many, but most of them are then asleep, resting from their 
labors of the previous night. A great number of them, however, have 
sought retired places and dark corners and so have disappeared wholly 
from view. At night great mobs of them filled every street and alley. 
The refuse and offal from the houses is thrown directly into the street. 
The dogs immediately attack each pile and extract from it whatever 
is edible, and they make way with an astonishing amount of refuse 
thus unceremoniously dumped in the highway. They fight fiercely 
among themselves. We saw a careless or impudent yellow dog ap- 
proach a heap of garbage which was a little outside his own particular 
precinct. Every other dog around the heap attacked him. There was 
a tremendous barking and snarling, and a moment later a very forlorn, 



Constantinople. 



109 



torn and bleeding yellow pup was retiring at the top of his speed to 
his own particular alley. 

The dogs paid no attention to men, but the men are very careful 
not to step upon the dogs. A yellow pup is privileged to lie down in the 
busiest street of Constantinople, and whole currents of traffic, peds- 
trians, horseback riders, donkeys, camels, porters and wheeled vehicles 
make a careful detour around a sleeping canine, who slumbers un- 
disturbed amid the busiest traffic of the street, if it happens to suit his 
notion. He may be a thorough scavenger but he certainly enjoys more 
privileges than the white robed street cleaners who do such famous 
work in the city of New York. 

While our venturesome friends were taking in the sights and 
sounds of the street, another relates our experience at the ship: 

In the pleasant anticipation of a good night's sleep and refreshment 
for the morrow's sight seeking, most of us retired early. I had been 
asleep for a few minutes when I thought I heard a dog bark, another 
joined in, then another, and then I knew that probably the worst and 
longest dog fight in history was taking place just under my port hole. 
It was over after a while, and there was quiet — until the next one 
started. The dogs of Constantinople were welcoming us. They were 
not fighting. This was their customary evening hymn. We had come 
to see Constantinople. We should hear it first. Without the dogs it 
would not be Constantinople. 

The next morning we looked down from the ship's deck upon 
a sea of red caps. Nearly every man wore one. They were the pre- 
vailing style and color, and the dark complexioned Turks looked well 
in them. 

On the street opposite our ship many carriages were in waiting to 
convey us to the different parts of the city. We drove to the Galatan 
tower and were locked up by the numerous carriages, and waited long 
in the narrow street. Afterward we made our way along the street 
facing the Kurfurst to the old Galata bridge. It is a pleasant bridge 
to look upon, but a loose, clattering old trap when one comes to cross it. 

Here one may stand and see the world go by. Here more nations 
meet than on any other spot in the world. Back and forth poured that 
steady stream of humanity, out of the east and out of the west, meeting, 
passing and repassing. New to us were the water carriers with their 
great skin bottles strapped to their backs. Veiled women hurried by, 
shrouded entirely in black, or with a white covering thrown over head 



110 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



and shoulders; porters whose astonishing loads were almost beyond 
belief — six men carrying a huge hogshead on two poles, and on the 
bended backs of porters were carried barrels of flour, lumber, shingles, 
huge trunks and boxes containing almost every conceivable article of 
merchandise; one man was struggling along with what seemed to be an 
entire chamber suite on his back, and towering far above his head were 
a table, bedstead, several chairs and some smaller articles ; donkeys 
drawing produce carts; Jews of all nations, Turkish gentlemen, vener- 
able pilgrims whose fezzes were wrapped about with white turbans; 
street venders; beggars in abundance; and beneath our feet, but un- 
harmed, were dogs, dogs, dogs. The several times we were at the 
Galata bridge it presented a similar, peculiar and crowded thoroughfare. 

Many of the mosques of Constantinople retain the materials as 
well as occupy the sites of the ancient Christian churches. 

The Imperial Mosque stands on high ground, and with harmonious 
contrast of dome and minaret presents a pleasing picture. The hills 
may be counted, as the lordly structures follow in stately order, and 
the different monuments to the Moslem prophets seem to repeat the form 
fixed upon the first hill. 

The star and crescent have superseded the cross as a religious em- 
blem. Fountains and places for washing are very numerous, and the 
religious Mohammedan does quite a complete act of bathing, washing 
face, hands, legs and freet with great thoroughness before entering the 

mosque. It seems rather ridiculous to observe a stately Arab shiek 
with a great pelisse over his shoulders or coat of sheep skin with the wool 

on, rubbing his bare legs and feet in the water of a fountain, and then 
proceeding to sit down calmly on a stone in the chilly breeze prepara- 
tory to paring his toe nails in the full view of the puolic. This curious 
combination of clothing and nakedness is common all through the East. 

As the sultan is the head of the Mohammedan church, Constanti- 
nople is the center of that religion, and its mosques are very nearly the 
most celebrated in the world. One may visit them freely, but must 



Constantinople. 



Ill 



either put off his shoes or rent a pair of huge slippers, which are fas- 
tened on loosely by an attendant. 

Everyone who visits Constantinople hastens to the mosque of Saint 
Sophia. "And who was Saint Sophia?" She is no one. It is "Holy 
Wisdom" for whom this mosque, once a magnificent Christian church, is 
named. In spite of its tawdry decorations, it is one of the most sym- 
metrical and impressive houses of worship in the world, and is said to 
be the most perfect and beautiful church ever erected by Christians. 
On Friday the Koran is read here by a priest, holding in his hand a 
drawn sword, as a reminder that this place was taken by violence 
from the Christian. 

This is the third of the Christian churches that has stood on this 
site, the former two having been destroyed by fire. The first was built 
by Constantme, and the present house by Justinian. The Christian 
frescoes and mosaics have been painted over, but here and there they 
show through. Away up above the altar, or in the vault of the apse, 
where the pigeons flutter, you can see, faintly worked out in mosaics, the 
figure of a man with outstretched arms. The Christian builders of the 
church put it there, and the Moslems, when they came, covered it with 
gold leaf. Again and again through the centuries the followers of 
Mohammed have washed over that part of their mosque with gold paint, 
trying to blot out the figure that is built into the wall. But they can- 
not. It still remains, and the world calls it the Waiting Christ. 

But the most magnificent religious edifice in Constantinople is the 
Mosque of Solyman, called by the Turks "Suleimanie." This temple 
was erected by "Solyman, the magnificent." And the windows of 
painted glass, said to be unequaled in the world, were wrested by him 
from the Persians. As the light comes through these windows, in beau- 
tifully blended rays, on the marble walls, the effect is strikingly impres- 
sive. There are rare relics from a pagan temple in the shape of four 
porphyry columns at the angles of the building. These pillars are 
most exquisite in symmetry and finish, and are the boast of Suleimanie. 
Hanging arches of Arabian architecture relieve the base of the dome, 
and the cornice of the platform on which the muezzin performs his 



112 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



prostrations, is finely chiseled to represent a wreath of lotus leaves. 
The pulpit has the form of a gigantic blossom of the arum, and being 
wrought in fine white marble, it resembles a gigantic petrified flower. 
The entrance gates are thickly inlaid with mother of pearl, and the mar- 
ble floor is strewn with the richest of carpets. 

But there is another feature connected with Suleimanie which is of 
peculiar interest and more worthy of record than any description of its 
magnificence. A richly wrought gallery is heaped with chests, of all 
sizes and descriptions, from the rude trunk of cypress wood, the treas- 
ure box of some petty trader, to the iron-clamped strongbox of some 
exiled noble or wealthy merchant. Hieroglyphics, known only to the 
owners, mark these boxes, piled almost to the roof, they have been pre- 
viously described and registered by the authorities and here they will re- 
main intact until, whatever time may elapse or changes come, the 
proper owners claim their own. It is said that there is an immense 
amount of gold, silver, jewels and rich fabrics hidden in these various 
receptacles, and that some of these chests have occupied their places 
in the gallery for a century or more. The trust is sacred and respected, 
and men of any nation or creed are free to deposit their property within 
these sacred walls, secure of its restoration, when claimed. 

The Hamidieh mosque, whither the, sultan goes to pray, is within 
the limits of the palace grounds and was built expressly for the present 
sultan. It is a gem of Moorish architecture. There is a private entrance 
for his majesty and a luxurious private ante-room. Few non-Mussul- 
mans have ever been inside this mosque; but it is considered the special 
privilege of pilgrims stopping at the capital on their way from the 
Caucasus or Chinese Turkestan, to Mecca, to perform their "namaz" 
with the caliph at his royal mosque. The view from the mosque over 
the Bosphorus, the harbor, and the sea of Marmora, is superb. 

In the olden days, when hundreds used to gather every Friday 
to see the ceremony, it made a more varied and animated scene than 
is witnessed today; but even now it is well worth all possible effort 
to be present when the sultan goes to say his prayers. Shortly before 
noon the movement of troops begins, and company after company of 
finely drilled soldiers arrive from barracks in various parts of the city. 
About 25,000 troops are regularly quartered at the capital; and this 
number is not infrequently increased to 40,000, as newly recruited 
regiments pass through from Anatolia to take the place of time expired 
veterans on the Bulgarian frontier or among the Albanians. About 2,000 



Constantinople . 



113 



soldiers of all kinds converge toward the imperial mosque on Friday- 
morning, and with their gay uniforms and well trained brass bands, they 
form an important feature of the pageant. The crack company of 
white horsed cavalry draws up in front of the bay horsed troop, 
in the open ground west of the mosque. Near by is a company of 
dark skinned infantry from Tripoli; there is another of fresh young 
troops from Koordistan; and yonder are some pale, worn veterans 
back from their unsuccessful campaign against cholera, heat and 
Arabs in Yemen. Right in front of the mosque, lining the approach 
from the palace, is a squad of marines from one of those stationary, 
rotting, useless men of war behind the bridges in the Golden Horn. 
As each division marches up, its band plays the Hamidieh March, 
composed in honor of the reigning sultan, and after that, other sel- 
ections, both oriental and European. German instructors have trained 
these bands so that they" compare favorably with the average military 
bands of most European countries. 

When all the soldiers and marines are in position, after a great 
deal of hurrying and scurrying of imperial messengers, aides, eunuchs 
and chamberlains, down the white road from the palace come three 
or four royal carriages drawn by beautiful horses, and each 
containing four ladies of the imperial harem. As these carriages 
drive past into the mosque yard, one catches through the open win- 
dows and through the delicate white gauze veils, visions of the love- 
liness of which the Persian poets sing; for, however haggard and wiz- 
ened may be the ordinary run of "ash-emptiers" (the common vulgar 
designation of wife in Turkey), the imperial harem is by no means 
wanting in Circassian beauties of rare type. The carriages roll into 
the mosque yard, where the horses are detached and led behind the 
mosque; the tongues are unfastened from the royal equipages and 
laid beneath the wheels. All is motionless and orderly, and the women 
remain in the carriages throughout the entire ceremony. 

Presently, there is more hurrying and clearing of the way, and 
down the hill come the imperial princes, gay in their military uniforms, 
mounted on splendid steeds, and attended by numerous equerries and 
servants. Immediately there is feverish activity on the part of a small 
army of shovelers, who soon obliterate all signs of carriages and 
horses' hoofs from the avenue by a liberal use of sand from piles 
along the side of the road. "Wherever the sultan drives, whether the 
two hundred yards to the mosque, or the three miles to Seraglio 
Point across the Galata Bridge, the road must be a new one, and his 
carriage must be the first to pass over it. 

Here comes his imperial majesty. Ab-dul-Hamid Khan II. We see 
a small, bent figure, with a face that shows at once that his 64 years 
have not been at all happy, but with eyes so keen and sharp that 
you feel certain that nothing escapes him. He has a full, rather 
scant, gray beard, and a nose so prominent as to lend a color of 
plausibility to the yarn that his mother was an Armenian. 

9 



114 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



He is dressed in plain citizen's clothes, and wears on his head 
the ordinary red fez. Seated in a plain but handsome black carriage, 
he is the embodiment of simplicity in the midst of pomp. The min- 
ister of war, Riza Pasha, is seated opposite his majesty, and in far 
more gorgeous uniforms are the stately coachmen in red and gold, the 
equally resplendent footmen, and the eager, attentive, servile eunuchs 
and chamberlains who crowd around and behind the royal coach. 

As the sultan drives around the corner and into view, a single blast 
of the bugle is the sign for the military salute by all the soldiers 
present. At this signal all join in a rousing, but somewhat mechanical 
shout, "Long live my king!" With many a salaam to the troops and to 
the distinguished visitors, the "lord of two continents and ruler of 
two seas," drives by, and is assisted from his coach and up the 
richly carpeted steps into the mosque. 

Whether you examine the horses that draw the imperial carriage, 
or the steeds ridden by the princes, or those belonging to the women's 
carriages, or that matchless pair that obey so gracefully the slightest 
guiding touch of his majesty as he drives back to the palace at the 
close of the ceremony, you wonder where in all the world can be 
found a finer lot of steeds. 

The muezzin, who had been waiting patiently for some minutes 
on the balcony of the minaret, gives the call to prayer just as the 
sultan arrives; and the silvery tones of his rich, high tenor voice 
sounds like a clarion above all the din of brass bands and the hurrahs 
of the soldiers, as he repeats the familiar formula beginning, "Allah- 
hu ekberl Allah-hu ekber!" The troops on duty do not join in 
prayers, but mats are often spread in the court outside the mosque 
for such pilgrims as have not succeeded in getting space within. 
Gradually, the larger part of the troops march away, leaving only a 
few marines and the Albanian body guard to receive the sultan 
as he comes out, enters his buggy, and drives back to the palace, 
bowing and saluting to the right and left. 

One of the most interesting places in Constantinople is the Hippo- 
drome, which, barring its more savage memories, is to Constantinople 
what the Colosseum is to Rome. Here occurred those contests of 
speed and skill that delighted the populace in the old days. In this 
oval stands the obelisk of Egyptian syenite, sixty feet high, brought 
hither by Theodosius the Great from Heliopolis, where it was erected by 
Thothmes III. 

Another interesting monument adorns the Hippodrome, if adorn is 
now the proper word, for it is a black and ruinous shaft of masonry. 
Once it was covered with plates of bronze, and gleamed in the sun like 
a shaft of light. This column was decorated with bronze horses (which 



Constantinople. 



117 



we afterward saw on the church of St. Mark's in Venice). Between 
these two obelisks the brazen serpent column, tarnished and headless, 
marks the center of the old racecourse, the floor of which is twelve feet 
below the present level. It is formed of three brazen serpents their 
bodies twisted together and their heads spreading outward for the sup- 
port of the golden tripod. The tripod was placed on the top of the 
pedestal, even then old and honored, after the battle of Plataea. The 
column thus completed was used in their worship by the priests of Del- 
phi. It is badly battered, but is a fine old relic, and was brought here 
by Constantine. Near these grounds stands the graceful mosque of 
Ahmed I. 

One of the gates of the city still standing has given to the Turkish 
government its official name, "The Sublime Porte." We passed a 
somber and impressive gateway or portal, high and overshadowed by a 
slightly projecting portico, the gateway leading to the foreign office of 
the imperial Ottoman government. 

In the museum, the treasure house of Professor Herman V. Hil- 
precht's Babylonian finds, as at Athens a few days before, we could 
only snatch glimpses of the treasures and pass on unsatisfied. Some of 
us lingered over the masterwork of Greek sculpture, the so called sarco- 
phagus of Alexander — worthy of him, though not his. The tearing of 
the horses' flesh by the teeth and the talons of the lion in the hunting 
scene of that marvelous bas relief made the marble quiver with life. 

From memories of Alexander, the centuries were rolled back to 
4,000 years before Christ by a sight of the statue of Naram Sin, who 
started a renaissance in the then ancient and effete land of Babylonia. 
Sennacherib's cylinder hoary with age, told us how "I, Sennacherib, 
shut up Hezekiah in Jerusalem like a bird in his cage." We saw glass 
from Troy that Tiffany tries in vain to imitate, and necklaces of gold, 
perhaps Helen's among them! 

But more interesting than all these relics of the past, than even the 
scholar-baffling Hittite inscriptions on the stone that regulated the water 
supply at the pool of Siloam, was a slab that stood at the entrance of 
the temple at Jerusalem in Christ's day, forbidding in Greek inscription 



118 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



any Gentile to enter upon pain of death. There stood the Greek letters, 
grimly announcing that any foreigner found within the enclosure con- 
fined by this wall the consequences would be upon himself! Fifty 
years ago, before this Jerusalem stone had been brought to light, it was 
commonly said by critics that our Lord's driving the money changers 
from the temple, under Roman rule, with no riot resulting was absurdly 
impossible. This stone, probably read many times by Jesus himself, 
has silenced the critics. Those Gentile money changers knew that they 
had no rights there and when a young Jewish peasant dared to assert 
the law that was cut out before their eyes in stone, they dared not pro- 
test. They were glad to escape with a scourge of cords. 

Our great party of Americans was extended numerous courtesies by 
the government. One of these was an invitation by the sultan to one of 
his palaces. Here we were treated to a curious jelly-like substance, 
supposed to be made from fruit juices and honey, and to be very expen- 
sive. The method of distributing a taste was decidedly primitive. 
Glasses and a moderate number of spoons were provided. The crowd 
of people filed up to the table and were privileged to take a spoonful of 
the jelly, or to drop a little in the glass and dilute it with water, thus 
making a pleasantly flavored drink. We were also served, in dainty 
cups about the size of a large thimble, with coffee, very black, supposed 
to be of exceedingly good quality, but we were not privileged to see his 
majesty, the sultan. 

The Tcheragen palace built upon the very edge of the waters of 
the Bosphorus, is a magnificent building of Italian marble. The pres- 
ent sultan, Abdul Hamid, does not spend much of his time here, but 
lives the most of the year in another palace, about a mile back from the 
water. This home of splendor is called Yeldez palace. It is set upon 
a hill and all that magnificence can lend is employed in the making of 
this home of oriental pomp and brilliancy. In the palace Tcheragen 
Sultan Murad, brother of the present ruler, was imprisoned for twenty- 
five years, after a brief reign of three months. He was adjudged in- 
sane, and confined in a part of the palace from which he never emerged 
alive. 



Constantinople. 



119 



We waited long for admittance before the door of the treasury 
building, in the old harem of Seraglio Point. Perhaps the officials had 
misgivings in regard to permitting a simple, honest appearing company 
of Americans into their treasure house. But it was said that we were 
awaiting a telegram from the sultan confirming our permission. It came 
at length, couched in most gracious words, and expressing royal pleas- 
ure in conferring the honor. We entered and saw the moneys and jew- 
els of the various departments, and ascended stone steps to a tottering 
inside balcony from which we could see through glass doors magnificent 
ancient costumes highly ornamented or decked with gems, rich and 
sparkling. But here I did not remain long, for, caring more for my 
personal safety than for all the wealth of the Turks, I hurriedly passed 
to the more firm foundation below. 

Wednesday morning as several of our party passed down the stone 
steps to the boat, in order to take a sail up the Golden Horn, an officer 
stood waiting to inspect our passports. He hastily examined that of a 
friend, and as we passed on I remarked that the official had not so much 
as glanced at my passport, when he replied that sometimes a man wa* 
also representative of his wife. 

Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 

The saddest are these: it might have been. 

The scenery along the horn was delightful. 

The Golden Horn, thus named for its fancied resemblance to a 
stag's horn, is a peculiar harbor, dividing the promontories on which the 
Ottoman capital lies. This inlet curls up in a course of a little more 
than four miles, to the foot of the hills, which, joining the heights on 
either side, seem to create a vast amphitheater. On either shore of the 
Golden Horn are castles, standing on the nearest point of approach be- 
tween the coasts, which in some instances, as the traveler approaches, 
seem to close the channel; but as he slips onward, one beautiful curve is 
succeeded by another and another. 

Several paid an interesting visit to the American College for Girls 
at Scutari, across the Bosphorus, which is doing a work for girls similar 
to that of Roberts college for boys. In some respects this college is the 



120 A Pn jGrimage to Canaan. 

strangest in the world. It has 1 40 to 1 60 students, about half of ^whom 
board in the college. Many of the boarders are from such distant 
points as Mecca and Athens, Trebizond in the interior, Phlliopolis 
and Sophi in Bulgaria, and Batoum and Tiilis in Russia, although a 
large proportion came from the Bosphorus villages, which really form 
part of Constantinople. Thus the school is made up of many different 
elements. Many of the girls are Armenians, most of whom belong to 
the Armenian or Gregorian church. A large number are Greeks of 
Orthodox faith, an equal number are Bulgarians, belonging to their 
branch of the Eastern church, and a smaller number are "Franks," as 
Europeans are still called here. A few girls are Heb rews and a few 
Turks. Probably nowhere else could one find an institution made up 
of such diverse races and religions. The principles of religious instruc- 
tion worked out here have, therefore, a high significance. The mem- 
bers of its faculty are largely American women, who have studied in the 
universities of Europe, and its graduates hold leading positions in so- 
ciety, many of them being instructors of others. 

We board a little steamboat and ride up the Bosphorus, toward the 
height of Bebek. As we approach we are brought back from the past 
and the East by the sight of some modern looking stone buildings, high 
on a promontory overlooking the water. From the top of one flutters a 
flag of red, and white, and blue, and a figure that makes the heart leap 
the more, the farther he sees it from home. The stars and stripes mark 
Roberts college, one of the great missionary educational centers of the 
world. 

In the midst of our climb a cheery American pilgrim coming down 
hails us with, "I've good news for you; it's up hill only one way." 
Blue and black and gilt Mohammed tombstones line the way, guarded 
by somber cypress trees, some of the stones surmounted by carved stone 
fez or turban, and green bay trees, which, like the wicked, flourish. 
South of us are the "sweet waters of Asia," and the narrowest part of 
the Bosphorus where Darius crossed on a bridge of boats. The view 
from the height well repays the climb. As far as the eye can see, 
stretch the waters of the beautiful Bosphorus, southwest toward the sea 



o ? f Marmora and the fortified Dardanelles, and northeast toward the 
Black Sea.' A round stone tower erected by Sultan Mohammed II., 
about 1454 A. D., with another square tower, rise close to us in the 
foreground. "They served as fortresses against and prisons for the Chris- 
tians. They now flank and guard the hilt" on which Roberts college 
stands. 3 : ' 

This college was founded in 1 863 by Christopher R. Roberts, a 
Sunday school superintendent arid merchant of New York. Mr. Rob- 
ers, having visited Constantinople, was deeply impressed with the neces- 
sity of an institution of higher learning there, and invited Dr. Hamlin to 
join him in founding an institution which should offer to young men 
without distinction of race or creed a thorough American education. 
The college Was first opened in a rented house in Bebek. Dr. Hamlin 
then set about the task, seemingly hopeless, of -securing permission from 
the Turkish government to build the college upon the site chosen. He 
was baffled on every hand. The sultan of Turkey and his "whole of- 
ficial corps were against him. He. met J with refusal after refusal, yet 
the indefatigable Hamlin kept on his -way, and finally, after a delay of 
nine years, not only was permission granted to build the college* but an 
irade was issued by the sultan, of Turkey conferring upon the institution 
all the advantages bestowed by the government upon schools in Turkey. 
Again Dr. Hamlin found himself face to face with a large task in Jthe 
building of the , college, but he entered upon this, with his usual zest. 
With the aid of a Corliss engine and several hundred workmen a fine, 
strong fireproof building soon sprang into being. This building is still 
the principal building of the college and is known as Hamlin hall. 

Roberts college has perhaps done more to enlighten the East than 
any other one agency. Its graduates are found in many high places 
throughout the eastern lands. The college opened with four students; 
in two years there were thirty. At the end of five years the institution 
was self supporting. Today the endowment is $250,000, and the 
buildings are worth $300,000 more. There are thirty-six teachers and 
320 students. 



122 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



A grandson of Cyrus Hamlin (the first president) led the way to 
the building, where a special meeting of welcome to the American pil- 
grims was in progress. A dozen boys, as full of life and laughter as 
American youngsters, scampered up a stairway ahead of us. The large 
hall was crowded with bright faced students, alert and eager to miss no 
word that was spoken, appreciative of every good point made by a 
speaker, courteous, springing to their feet to offer their seats to new- 
comers, showing in every look and manner what Christian education is 
doing for these coming citizens of the east. 

President Gates was in the chair; back of him the English and 
American flags were draped on each side of a fine old portrait of C. R. 
Roberts. On one side of the room hung oil portaits of Cyrus Hamlin 
and the late Vice President Long. Beloved Dr. Washburn, who has 
recently retired after a term of more than a quarter of a century in the 
presidency of the college, greeted us in an address of welcome. 

As the Americans kept coming into the already crowded hall, Dr. 
Gates rose and suggested that the students withdraw and give the hall to 
the visitors. At this Mr. Warren sprang to his feet and strenuously 
objected. "The students of Roberts college," he said, "have the first 
claim on the exercises of the day, and nothing must interfere with that." 
The boys' tumultuous applause showed their quick appreciation of this 
tribute. They did, however, insist on giving their seats to the American 
visitors, and they themselves remained, standing, throughout the meeting. 
Their attention to the speakers was remarkable, and their applause such 
as I have rarely heard equalled. 

We all joined in singing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Dr. H. H. 
Jessup told us that morning of the curious linking of Roberts college 
with the great American college at Beyrout. After many failures to 
secure permission to build at or near Constantinople, Dr. Hamlin, in 
1865, knowing that Dr. Jessup was preparing to build a female semin- 
ary at Beyrout, offered him the ship load of doors, windows, sashes and 
the like, which had been made in Lowell, Mass., for the hoped for 
institution at Constantinople. Dr. Jessup took the ship load at cost 
price, and built the Beyrout seminary to fit Dr. Hamlin's doors and 



Constantinople. 123 

windows. Later Dr. Hamlin secured the long awaited permission, and 
repented of the sale, but it was too late. 

We spent a short time viewing the buildings and grounds and 
returned to the Kurfurst for lunch. 

The Bible House in Constantinople is an interesting instance of 
American progressiveness as applied to religious enterprise in the east. 
It is a property worth $100,000, owned and controlled by a board of 
trustees in New York city, and managed in Constantinople by Rev. 
Marcellus Bowen. It furnishes accommodations at reasonable rent: 
to such organizations as the American Bible society, certain departments 
of the American board, the British and Foreign Bible society, two large 
bible printing establishments, and to still other similar institutions. The 
income from rents, after current expenses and improvements are cared 
for, goes to the support of preaching services in Greek and Turkish, 
and the futherance of bible work in the empire. In 1 903 the American 
Bible society alone put into circulation 100,546 bibles, testaments and 
parts of bibles. 

One may visit the famous cistern, the most notable of the many by 
which Constantinople was provided for in case of siege. Through a 
private yard one descends a narrow and slippery stairway into a dark 
hole capable of accommodating perhaps a dozen at a time. A torch 
is handed down, made of shavings of tow or some loose stuff saturated 
with oil, and smoking like a brand from Tartarus. Down into this 
sepulchral pit one gropes his way, with all manner of creepy sensations, 
heightened by the dampness. But below, a beautiful sight is revealed 
by the light of the smoking torch. The cistern is 336 feet long and 1 82 
feet wide, and has a vaulted roof resting on 336 columns, arranged in 
twelve rows of twenty-eight columns each. The columns are thirty-nine 
feet high, and many have finely carved Corinthian capitals. And this 
is a cistern! It seems more like a great marine cathedral, with the light 
dying away among the columned aisles. The semi-infernal effect of the 
descent changes in sudden contrast to delight. The water lights up in 
noiseless little ripples that ebb away among the pillars. 



124 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

»vl . 'fC • .* T K%< f- y V ■ 



Near where we stand stood the ancient law courts of Justinian, 
from whose code we inherit much of our legal procedure. The dismal 
entrance to the famous cistern occupies the site of the ancient portico 
once filled with booksellers' stalls, and thronged with eminent jurists. 

In the inner courtyard of the pigeon mosque the birds came flutter- 
ing down by the hundred to greet us and feed on the grain that we 
purchased from a ready attendant. While the Christian regards the 
dove, or pigeon, as a symbol of peace and purity, the Mohammedans 
esteem it too sacred for human hands or human uses. The Mussulman 
always resents it if his Christian neighbor persists in keeping pigeons 
about his home, and honestly believes that ill luck, or a direct visitation 
from heaven, will overtake the offender from his profane use of holy 
things. The people of Constantinople venerate the pigeon as well as 
the dog, and have erected a commodious home for them, but it is doubt- 
ful if a kennel will ever be provided with sufficient capacity for the 
innumerable homeless dogs of the streets. 

We wandered half a day in the great covered structure occupying 
acres of territory, known as the bazaars. Here, in small stores or stalls, 
400,000 of them, packed close together, running for miles and miles in 
corridors or tunnels, entirely shut in from the sky by an arched roof over- 
head, everything marketable in the Turkish empire is displayed for sale. 
Various commodities of a kind are usually kept together — the jewelers, 
for instance, in one place, sellers of drugs in another, sellers of meats 
in another, of fruits in another, and so on. The brass and copper shops 
gleam with their ruddy golden ware, trays and plates, jars and pots, 
suspended or stacked in a bewildering mass around the doorway and in 
every available spot within. Food shops abound, and confectionery of 
tempting if unfamiliar appearance. A very yellow kind of cake called 
"Turkish delight," is often seen. 

One of our party describes the rug establishment thus: 

We saw them of almost priceless values, and we saw them in 
the making. One beauty was comparatively low priced, only $1,000. 
It was a Persian house rug, and it took six persons seven years to 
make it. Another of rich green, in imitation of jade, contained 650 



Constantinople. 



125 



knots to the inch. In an upper room in the building we watched 
the Armenian girls, busy at the ceaseless knot tying and clipping, 
which is the secret of Oriental rug making. Their hands moved 
like lightning, with automatic certainty of touch. The knot is tied, 
and a quick snip of a sharp little knife severs the ends of the silk. 
Without patterns they work, except the patterns that they carry in 
their heads, each girl having learned one or two "by heart." A girl 
will tie from eighteen to twenty thousand knots a day on a silk 
rug. Three thousand girls were employed by this firm. 

We visited an Armenian church, also another where services were 
being held in which burning coals were carried from off the altar. Wor- 
shipers kissed and bowed down before images and pictures of Christ 
and the Holy Virgin. And some distance from these, at the door of a 
very ancient church, we put on the ordinary large slippers and paid the 
attendant a trifle. He gave us information in regard to the mosaics, 
aqueducts and structure of the edifice. 

A lady whose parents had been in these mission fields many years was 
in the same carriage. As we passed a group of Turkish soldiers she re- 
marked: "I wish I did not feel as I do toward them. But the sight of them 
makes me shudder.'* Then in reply to my question she gave informa- 
tion in regard to mission work and the experiences and difficulties of 
the worker. It was not far from Constantinople that Miss Stone was 
captured. The Turkish soldier is a good looking man. He presents 
as fine an appearance as the soldiers of any European country. 

The morning of the 3 1 st the Grosser Kurf urst left the dock at 
Constantinople and steamed up the Bosphorus clear into the open waters 
of the Black sea. Many splendid palaces and other noble specimens 
of architecture lined both shores of this most picturesque and beautiful 
waterway. From the Golden Horn to the Black sea the Bosphorus is 
like a garland, woven by the hand of beauty, where each blossom seems 
brighter than the last. Mirrored in the waters of the Bosphorus are 
groves, hamlets, palaces, and magnificent turreted mosques. Here and 
there are solid outlines of rock, diversified by glens and inlets, beautiful 
in their fresh and vivid green; valleys studded with trees whose branches 
hang over the swift moving current; beautiful mansions backed by lofty 
hills, palaces and kioques of the court occupying the finest sites. 



126 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



"The Kiosque of the Sun" is perched on the top of a rock on tht 

r 

Asiatic coast. 

On our return, as we passed Roberts college, the roof and windows 
were filled with waving flags and fluttering handkerchiefs and cheering 
boys, the hope of the empire. 

The Kurfurst whistled our farewell. Rising above the thickly 
packed buildings of Stamboul on our right were minarets, minarets, 
minarets. They grew less and less, though still plentiful, as the houses 
were less close together, until it was difficult, on the receding horizon, 
to distinguish them from the straight and slender cypress trees that 
marked the resting place of the dead. 

It was the custom of the ladies of our party to bedeck themselves 
in representative articles of the last place visited; but on leaving Con- 
stantinople several of the men had donned the Turkish cap, and when 
a dark, handsome man appeared on deck in Turkish fez we did not 
know but that some souvenir hunting lady had really captured a Turk. 
These red felt caps with black cord and tassel were first most noticeable 
in Constantinople, but were worn by all classes, both indoors and out, 
in Palestine and Egypt, and not until we returned to Naples did they 
disappear. 



Smyrna and Ephesus. 



127 



CHAPTER IX. 
Smyrna and Ephesus. 

Friday morning, April 1 , the Kurf urst anchored out in the Aegean 
before the city of Smyrna. Native oarsmen in baggy seated trousers, 
blue shirts, white or pale green knitted stockings, and the ever present 
fez, rowed us ashore. 

Smyrna is 288 miles from Constantinople, and lies in latitude 30 
degrees and 20 minutes north and longitude 27 degrees, 9 minutes east, 
and was founded 688 years before Christ. It is one of the seven cities 
written of by John in the ii. and iii. chapters of Revelations, and is 
commended for its fidelity amid persecution. Ephesus, Laodicea and 
Sardis survive only in their ruins, while Smyrna, Thyatira, Pergamos 
and Philadelphia are still important centers. 

Smyrna, the commercial metropolis of the Turkish empire, contains 
a population of over 300,000, of whom more than 200,000 are Greeks. 
It is an Asiatic city with a European face, an ancient city with no appear- 
ance of antiquity. Smyrna is in some respects the most civilized of the 
Turkish cities. It has a beautiful quay on the bay, and many handsome 
modern buildings. 

Half way up Mount Pagus, looming high behind the city, was the 
stadium where Poly carp was burned. "Eighty and six years have I 
served my Lord, and he never did me harm; how, then, can I deny him 
now?" answered the brave saint, when at 96 he was asked to renounce 
Christ. There on the mountain they buried the Christian father. Two 
straight, dark cypress trees guard his tomb — steadfast sentinels, "the 
only constant mourners of the dead." Polycarp, who was bishop of 
Smyrna and had been a pupil of the Apostle John, is one of the most 
important of the connecting links between the apostles themselves and 
later ages. 



128 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Our party has to choose between a visit to Ephesus and an interesting 
service at the International college, that morning, and the Collegiate 
institute for girls. The delegates were welcomed by the president, 
Alexander MacLachlan, and addressed by the Rev. Lyman Bartlett, 
head of the American mission in Syria. Two speakers of exceptional 
interest to the Americans Were the Rev. Hagop Tashjian, pastor of the 
native congregation of the Evangelical Armenian church, and the Rev. 
George Xenophon Maschon, Ph. D., of the Greek Evangelical church 
of Smyrna. The latter spoke in part as follows: 

•t 

It affords me a very great pleasure to tender you today the 
warmest welcome on the part of the Greek Evangelical church in 
Smyrna. Here you find yourself in classical lands, and you cannot 
avoid 'Classical associations. By a rapid backward flight you may 
find yourselves here in Smyrna, seated around Homer, listening to the' 
tune of his lyre and the immortal accents of his poetry, or you may 
greet Anaxagoras the first philosopher who ever thought of the 
"nous," the mind; or you may form an audience for Herodotus, who, 
like an old man, is eager to tell his wonderful history; or you may 
watch the Phocians as they leave their native soil to found Marseilles 
and light a lamp of civilization in savage France. 

Better still, you find yourself on sacred soil. Here apostles 
preached and martyrs bled and the first disciples discussed and for- 
mulated the Christian faith. On yonder hill you will see the place 
where the venerable old Polycarp laid down his life for the Master 
he served for 86 years. Here you are in the land of "the seven 
churches which were in Asia," to which the seer of Patmos addressed 
those searching epistles from that little rocky island off the coast, 
and which the Lord who walketh in the midst of the golden candle- 
sticks chose to represent the course of his church through centuries, 
the most wonderful compendium of church history ever written, and 
that from the Lord's own point of view. 

There is something even in the present which you may greet 
with familiar look, for even here you find a few hearts touched by 
the Holy Ghost and attuned to the heavenly melody of Christ's love. 
The light of the gospel, chased from these lands for more than a 
thousand years, begins slowly to return, and it is to us an encourage- 
ment and an inspiration, greater than you can realize, to see such an 
army of Christian workers, for we do feel that the Lord is able to 
multiply us as he has multiplied you, and we are sure your prayerful 
interest will follow God's work in these Bible lands, and will win for 
us a blessing from above. The heathen past, however glorious, must 
recede before the Christian future, and the incomparable glories of 
Immanuel shall eclipse all merely human effort or attainment. 



Smyrna and Ephesus. 



131 



In Smyrna something worthy of the opportunity exists in educational 
institutions, which have been rapidly growing in influence and importance. 
Beginning with small day schools, a system has grown up that now 
covers the whole field from the kindergarten to the International college 
for boys and the Collegiate institute for girls. These institutions are of 
high grade, and are exerting a broad and healthy intellectual and spirit- 
ual influence over a wide territory. The college has twenty-two profes- 
sors and teachers, with an attendance of about 300 pupils. The 
Collegiate institute for girls, with sixteen teachers, has about 260 pupils. 
The confidence secured by the work has resulted in an attendance that 
taxes the buildings to the utmost and calls loudly for increased facilities. 
And it looks as if Smyrna was to be a leavening center of true knowledge 
and righteousness. 

Smyrna has a great broad street along the water front, where ships 
make fast to the docks directly across the business blocks. We stepped 
out into a busy crowded street, through which we walked for a short 
distance, and those who were bound for Ephesus boarded tram cars 
sufficiently comfortable to the occupants, but seemingly an imposition on 
the one horse that draws them. We passed for a mile or two through a 
good, clean street with the bay to the left and fine residences to the right. 
Below, the doors and windows of the latter were barred and closed; 
but from the windows above, people looked out at us pleasantly as we 
passed. We then took a steam car which conveyed us through the 
country to Ephesus, some fifty-four miles distant. The change from 
city sights and ocean travel is agreeable. Many years ago over the same 
road probably traveled Paul, Timothy, John, and other early Chris- 
tians. The ride from Smyrna to Ephesus was like a biographic view 
of bible lands, for we were in the real east, and out in its country, 
away from any city, for the first time. 

Here we saw shepherds who wander over the hills and vales, with 
their flocks, apparently camping with them at night, and protected from 
the cold by their great cloaks. We met caravans of camels, laden 
with lime, stone, charcoal, figs, dates, raisins, spices, poultry and all 
kinds of merchandise. Now we see a shepherd at the head of his flock, 



132 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



leading the sheep, a sight never seen in the west, but rich in its reminder 
of the bible. Storks are common in the fields, and at one time they 
were observed even on the house top. Horses are numerous. We pass 
a station named Paradise, then through fine orchards of olives and figs, 
meeting natives in their peculiar oriental costumes, some in high colors 
and much patched, are very striking. We meet more camels, other 
strangely attired people, see many flocks of sheep, each with a shepherd 
near them, more storks, and pass through a beautiful country till we 
arrive at the station of Ephesus, where stands a small Turkish village 
containing about 150 people. This village is perhaps two miles from 
the site of the ancient city, but very near the ruins of the temple of 
Diana of the Ephesians. The site of the old city may be visited on 
horseback, although it is not too far to walk. There were several 
hundred of us, and about forty small donkeys which were engaged 
ahead for those who did not choose to walk the distance. Of course 
we laughed at the appearance of our friends as they passed us who 
were fortunate in securing one of these homely little animals, but wished 
their lot had been ours. 

A short distance from the station we followed a high wall or ancient 
aqueduct which brought water to the city. On the top of the pillars 
that upported the arches the storks have built their nests. We pass 
through the arch of the gate of Persecution, said to have been the 
entrance to St. John's church, where Christians are supposed to have 
suffered martyrdom. The old church of St. John still stands in a partly 
ruined condition. It has been a mosque, but some part of it may once 
have been a church. John wrote to the church at Ephesus: "Repent 
and do the first work, or else I will come unto thee, and will remove 
from its place thy candlestick out of its place except thou repent." 
Ephesus was also the home of the apostle John in his closing years, 
and it may have been that of Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

It was also the home of St. Paul for about three years. While at 
Ephesus he probably founded all of the seven churches of Asia which 
are mentioned Revelation ii. and iii. Here he also wrote his first epistle 
to the Corinthians, and perhaps the epistle to the Romans. In the time 



Smyrna and Ephesus. 



133 



)f Paul, Ephesus was the capital city of the Roman province of Asu_ 
It was built partly on a plain, five miles by three in extent, and partly 
upon the slopes of the surrounding hills. Its natural advantages ren- 
dered it a great emporium of trade, and its people maintained for it 
also a high position in letters and fine arts. Its buildings and parks 
were adorned with the works of famous sculptors and painters. Ephe- 
sus had been in early times the royal residence of Ionian kings, and 
had always been a kind of sacred city. It was the headquarters also 
of various superstitions, which maintained many priestly bodies. It 
was adorned with many splendid buildings. Perhaps it was his recol- 
lection of the magnificent buildings of Ephesus that prompted Paul 
to speak of the church as the spiritual temple of Christ, foremost among 
which was the temple of Diana. 

This building was constructed of purest marble and had been 220 
years in building. The temple of Diana, one of the "seven wonders 
of the world," had been built at an enormous cost, the women of all 
Asia freely giving their jewels for this purpose. To avoid the danger 
of earthquakes, its foundations were built at vast cost on artificial foun- 
dations of skin and charcoal laid over the marsh. It gleamed far off 
with a star like radiance. Its peristyle consisted of 1 20 pillars of the 
Ionic order, hewn out of Parian marble. Its doors of carved cypress 
wood were surmounted by transoms so vast and solid that the aid of 
miracles were invoked to account for their elevation. The staircase, 
which led to the roof, was said to have been cut out of a single vine 
of cypress. Some of the pillars were carved with designs of exquisite 
beauty. Paintings by the greatest of Greek artists adorned the inner 
walls. The roof of the temple itself was of cedar wood, supported by 
columns of jasper on bases of Parian marble. On these pillars hung 
gifts of priceless value, the votive offerings of grateful superstition. 

At the end of the temple stood the great altar, adorned by the bas 
relief of Praxiteles, behind which fell the vast folds of a purple cur- 
tain. Behind this curtain was the dark and awful adytum in which 
stood the most sacred idol of classic heathendom, and which this mag- 
nificent building enshrined. The highly venerated statue of Diana, "the 
image which fell down from heaven," and may have been a meteorite, 



134 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



was merely a block of wood tapering toward the foot, and carved in the 
upper part into a many breasted female figure. The temple was burned 
in 356 before Christ and rebuilt; destroyed by the Goths in 262 A. D. 
After this lying in ruins all these years, we gaze on the scattered frag- 
ments of this beautiful shrine of superstition. Now are to be seen 
only sections of columns twelve feet below the surface, the sight of 
which was unknown till rediscovered in 1 869 by Mr. J. T. Wood. 
Conceiving the idea that the temple was outside the city of Ephesus 
proper, and that if it was, there must be an important roadway lead- 
ing to it from a prominent gate of the city, by sinking shafts twenty- 
two feet down he finally came upon inscriptions that gave him the clew 
he wanted. 

I was among the number who walked from these rums through the 
valley, made rough m many places by the presence of stone, probably 
from the ruins of many ancient structures. We passed a great stadium 
on our way, and m the city a baptistry fountain, and amidst broken 
marble columns and enscribed slabs we ate our lunch prepared for us 
by the ship's stewards. The wide streets were paved in mosaics of 
about an inch square m color blue and white. The quietness of this 
once populous city was now appalling. No sign of present habitation 
or of any person within the call of a voice. Nothing but a beautiful 
mass of rums lay before us. Many pieces were finely carved and of 
various colors. Mr. McNaughton, of Smyrna, taking his stand on a 
high column before the theater, gave us information in regard to the 
ruins. 

We then entered the theater close by, though 1 difficult to reach, from 
the broken mass of ruins before it. It is better preserved than any 
other architecture in Ephesus. It is said to have been the largest of its 
kind ever erected by Greeks, and had a seating capacity of 50,000. 
It was built against the sloping sides of a hill, and like other ancient 
theaters it was without a roof. 

Because of the riot precipitated here some nineteen centuries ago, 
recorded in the 1 9th chapter of Acts, we meet in this same ancient gath- 
ering place in honor of the memory of the instigator of that day's riot. 
The preaching of the gospel at Ephesus turned many from the pursuit of 



Smyrna and Ephesus. 



137 



magic and the worship of idols, so that the lucrative trade of making 
silver images of the popular goddess Diana was greatly injured. At 
a gathering of the workers of this trade, their anger was aroused against 
St. Paul and they rushed in tumultuous fury into the theater, shouting, 
"Great is Diana of the Ephesians." They did not find Paul, but 
seized two of his companions. At length, the town clerk quieted the 
mob by urging that they ought to do all things with the quiet assurance 
of those who know that they are on the safe side, since surely nothing 
could overthrow the worship of the great goddess in Ephesus. He 
adroitly inserted slight references to the Roman law, which was likely 
to call the rioters to answer for that day's uproar. 

Here we experienced the only threatening weather of the trip. 
There was a slight drizzle in the morning, but afterward the skies had 
cleared up nicely, but as we gathered in the theater a heavy rain storm 
broke over our heads, but it did not daunt the enthusiasm of this band 
of pilgrims from over the sea. "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" 
was sung by lusty lungs in the old theater that day with as much en- 
thusiasm as Diana's mob had shown, if with less excitement. 

In spite of the downpour, a plucky young Baptist minister of Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, the Rev. Everette Gill, delivered a brief address to his 
fellow pilgrims, standing on what was the stage of the old theater, while 
his audience, huddled under umbrellas were scattered throughout the 
seats extending up the hill side which formed the walls of this natural 
amphitheater. Our service was closed by a prayer of remarkable power 
offered by a colored Baptist preacher of Louisville, the Rev. C. H. 
Parrish, D. D. The prayer was as follows: 

Dear Lord, we bow before tbee with grateful hearts. We 
thank thee for the Holy Spirit who has comforted us all along our 
journey over sea and land, and who doth guide us into all truth, 
and who hath made our hearts burn as He hath reasoned with us 
out of thy word and through thy chosen servants, and made the 
very shipboard none other than the house of God and the gate of 
heaven. 

We thank thee for this Christian fellowship, made possible through 
organized Sunday school workers. We thank thee for the mission- 
aries thou hast stationed in this far off land. Bless our visit in their 
behalf. May they wax strong, brave and victorious as they become 



138 



A Pilgrimage to Canaais. 



conscious of the good will of this organized host of thine anointed; 
and, though striving alone on this far off field, yet may they know 
they are not alone, but serving only as outposts of thy grand army, 
and that they have not the strength of one only, hut the strength of 
a multitude. And in this presence wilt thou remember Africa — poor, 
bleeding, suffering Africa — cradle of civilization, home of Moses and 
refuge of thy Son, the infant Christ. Long has she been the battle- 
ground of avaricious nations. Long has she uttered the Macedonian 
cry. Long has she waited for a full and free supply of the bread of 
life. O, Lord, have mercy upon my dark and benighted land! Make 
this Christian cruise along her neglected shores prophetic of her 
early redemption and the sin tocsin of the fulfillment of thy promise 
that "Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hand unto thee!" 

Here we are permitted to stand among the ruins where thy 
servant, Paul, was assaulted for preaching Christ, and where mob 
violence was throttled by the wisdom of the town officials. Grant, 
O Lord, that here and now we and all the officials of the earth may 
learn anew the lesson that if we "have aught against any man, the 
law is open; let it be determined in a lawful assembly." 

We thank thee for this rare opportunity for a most favorable 
study of thy word. Thou knowest how grateful we are to stand on 
the site of the city where Priscilla and Aquilla, Christian workers 
of long ago, taught the young and eloquent Apollos the way of God 
more perfectly; here where Gaius and Aristarchus suffered perse- 
cution; where the elders of Ephesus went forth to hear the parting 
words of thy servant Paul; here where the Iconoclastic hammer 
of the gospel hath broken into pieces the image and temple of the 
great goddess Diana, and caused those who practised curious arts 
to publicly burn their superstitious books. Dear Lord, we were, 
till now, firm believers that they are no gods which are made with 
hands, but henceforth we are living witnesses, for we have seen with 
our eyes Diana's worship despised, and her magnificence destroyed 
forever. 

Grant that we may realize our rare opportunity for greater service, 
that henceforth we may be strong in the Lord and in the power of 
his might. In view of these blessings may we reconsecrate ourselves, 
all our talents and all of every talent to thy glory and man's good. 
Safely return us to our homes and loved ones, that we may tell them 
what great things thou hast done for us and hath had compassion 
upon us. And when life's stormy voyage is ended, land us safely in 
heaven's port, and there, in the Acropolis of the King of kings, on the 
bright hill tops of the new Jerusalem, where we shall see thee as thou 
art, let us there praise thee as we ought! 

At the close of the meeting, the rain having somewhat subsided, 
those with cameras endeavored to reproduce for preservation this scene 
of the Jerusalem pilgrims in the theater. From the theater we passed 



V 



Smyrna and Bphesus. 



141 



down a wide street beautifully paved, and in places filled with the 
ruins of other structures, and where stood at regular intervals the four 
columns of the apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, each one 
emblematic of some beast or bird. Farther on we ascended steps which 
led to the university site from which a good view of the deserted city 
was obtained — beautiful yet in its ruins. Portable pieces of fine carv- 
ings in marble and stone were everywhere available. The city lay in 
ruins, forsaken and unguarded, unlike those of the Acropolis in Athens 
and other places, who seemed more choice of their ancient relics and 
perhaps of their history. 

The time here seemed but too short, and we hurried over the way 
we came, to take the first car to Smyrna. As we neared the station, 
the rain which had been threatening all day poured in torrents. I had 
left my umbrella in far away Malta. A friend kindly shared his with 
me, which protected neither of us well from the drenching rain. At 
last a number found shelter in the shop of a blacksmith for a time, 
and when we arrived at the station the train had left. We waited and 
rested a little while until another arrived. 

Returning to the Kurfurst, we continued the voyage about 9 p. m. 
During the night we passed the isle of Patmos, where St. John saw 
and wrote that most wonderful vision which is recorded in the book 
of Revelation of the New Testament. Various accounts of the island 
dimly visible in the darkness from the ship's deck were given by pil- 
grims the next morning. But the greater number beheld Patmos only 
in our sleep. 

Little is commonly known of Patmos, the island where the Apostle 
John "was in the spirit on the Lord's day," and where he heard a great 
voice say, "What thou seest, write in a book." The place where the 
revelation was made to John is pointed out by tradition as the "cave of 
the Apocalypse," part way up the mountain side and overlooking the har- 
bor of La Scala. The island of Patmos is about fifty-five miles south- 
west of Ephesus. Its shore line is ragged, and measures hardly forty 



142 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



miles. Its surface is roughly broken by its many hills and volcanic moun- 
tains, one of which rises to a height of 900 feet. 

"O, blessed hour of cruel banishment! 

What matter where such lonely islands be? 
If only there such visions may be sent 

Of Him — or here, or far in Aegean Sea?" 

On the afternoon of the 2nd we passed the island of Rhodes, and in 
the evening in the large dining room of the Kurfurst we listened to 
a lecture on Smyrna. Early Sunday morning we passed the island of 
Cyprus. It was Easter Sunday. We gathered in the main dining 
room and listened to a memorable sermon by the Rev. Ernest Bourner 
Allen. Cards were distributed as follows: 

"Remember Jesus Christ" — May these words be your motto, motive 
and war cry in the years that remain. 

An Easter sermon, April 3, 1904, on the Mediterranean en route to 
the World's Fourth Sunday School Convention at Jerusalem; by Rev. 
Ernest Bourner Allen, pastor of the Washington Street Congrega- 
tional Church, Toledo, Ohio, U. S. A. 

We had, as fellow passenger from Smyrna to Beyrout, Archbishop 
Agathaggelas, of the Greek diocese of Grievna, in Macedonia. On 
Sunday morning, by invitation of the central committee, he attended the 
Easter service. His kindly face looked out from under the black head 
dress of the Greek priesthood, and his flowing robe seemed well suited 
to his name and mission. We had sailed from Smyrna the evening be- 
fore, and he, bound for Syria, was by his own choice sailing with us; 
for, as he explained he could take a Greek or a Russian steamer for 
this trip at any time but not often did a Grosser Kurfurst with 800 
Christian pilgrims on the way to a World's Sunday School Convention 
in Jerusalem sail that way. And so, in planning for the Easter serv- 
ice on shipboard, Bishop Agathaggelas was courteously invited to sit 
with Captain Reimkastem and the leaders of the meeting, and to pro- 
nounce the benediction at the close. 

It was an Easter morning to be remembered; no other just like it 
has ever been held. On the morrow our feet were to walk in the land 
which witnessed the first Easter. Today we were at sea, between the 



Smyrna and Ephesus. 



143 



country which was part of Paul's missionary field, and the region where 
he first started on his missionary career. The great saloon was filled 
until there was no more room even to stand along the walls of the tables. 
Differences of nationality and denominational faith were lost sight of 
in our common worship of the risen Christ. "The Church's One Foun- 
dation Is Jesus Christ, Her Lord," was the opening hymn of unity, 
and it was good to realize that that church was greater than any of 
its divisions, as we sang: 

"Elect from every nation, 

Yet one o'er all the earth, 
Her charter of salvation, 

One Lord, one faith, one birth. 
Holy name she blesses, 

Partakes one holy food, 
And to one hope she presses, 

With every grace endued." 

An Episcopal clergyman from Manitoba led the responsive reading 
from the Easter service in our Jerusalem manual, and a Congregational- 
ist layman from Michigan sang very beautifully to us the familiar 
strains of Paul Rodney's music "Calvary," to the verses by Henry 
Vaughn. Then a Presbyterian missionary from the American college 
at Beyrout led in prayer. "As we sing over the sea, help us to re- 
member that those who sleep in its depths shall some day rise again, 
as those who now sleep in these lands that are about us, shall also 
rise from the dead," was one of the petitions that went up. A Pres- 
byterian judge from Alabama read the Scripture lesson from II. 
Timothy ii. :1-10, and after the singing of another hymn, "How Firm a 
Foundation," the sermon of the morning was preached by the pastor of 
the Washington Street Congregational church, of Toledo, O., the 
Rev. Ernest Bourner Allen. His text was from the Scripture read- 
ing, "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead." It was an Eas- 
ter message for the whole world, resting our hope not on the words of 
Jesus, but on Jesus himself. "I do not know," said the preacher, "that 
I remember in its entirety any single sentence my mother ever spoke to 
me, but I remember her.*' He contrasted the impressive tomb of Na- 
poleon, surrounded by the dead witnesses to his life, with the tomb 



144 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



of the Christ and its living witnesses throughout the nations of the earth. 
"That Christ is the Christ for the motley throng that moves across the 
old Galatan bridge, at Constantinople, Turks, Jews, and Moslems; 
the Christ for those men and women that we saw crowded into the Arab 
quarter of Algiers." The service and the pilgrimage were living wit- 
nesses to the truth which the Easter sermon pressed home upon his 
hearers. 

And it was fitting that the blessing of the Father should be in- 
voked before we left our places that day by the one far removed from 
most of us in his place of habitation and his forms of belief and wor- 
ship, yet after all acknowledging the same Jesus as master and Savior, 
the Bishop of Macedonia, Brother Agathaggelas. He spoke to us 
first in broken English: "I am a Greek bishop. I am happy here to- 
day with you, but unfortunately I cannot well speak English; I speak 
German, French, ancient and modern Greek and Turkish; therefore I 
will speak German, because we are in a German steamer." And then 
he continued, in German: "I would be happy today if I could speak 
the English language better. I shall never forget my journey from 
Smyrna to Jerusalem, which I took with such good, religious and 
learned Christians. I would again impress upon you that we, the Ortho- 
dox Jesuits, the Greek Catholics, as we are called in Europe and Amer- 
ica, have never been and are not now, fanatical Christians. We be- 
lieve that all Christians, whether in America or in England, in France 
or in Greece, all over the world are brothers and as good brothers, 
should aid one another. Therefore, in the name of the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost I give to you with great joy my benediction. 
Amen." 



Canaan. 



145 



CHAPTER X. 
Canaan, the Land of Promise. 

■ 

So I journey with rejoicing to'ard that City of Light, 

While each clay my joy is deeper, and the pathway more bright 

And I view the open portals of the kingdom above. 

For the highway leads to Canaan, to the kingdom of love. 

Vale of Eeulah! Vale of Beulah! Thou art precious to me; 

For the lovely Land of Canaan in the distance I see. 

Palestine, or the Holy Land, extends from the southern shore of the 
Dead sea in the south, to the southern slopes of Mount Hermon in the 
north, or from latitude 31 degrees and 10 minutes to 33 degrees and 
20 minutes north which is almost identical with the biblical definition 
of the limits of the land of Israel, as extending "from Dan to Beer- 
sheba." From the coast Palestine extends eastward to the mountains 
of Moab and Gilead, beyond the Dead sea and the River Jordan, or 
from longitude 34 degrees and 30 minutes to 36 degrees east. It is 
bounded on the north by the southernmost spurs of the two mountain 
ranges of the Lebanon and the Anti-Libanus, and by Mount Hermon ; 
on the east by the Arabian desert; on the south by Arabia Petrea, 
and on the west by the Mediterranean sea. Its length from north to 
south is about 1 40 English miles ; its average breadth about 80 miles ; 
and its area nearly 1 0,000 square miles. 

The name Palestine, or Palestina, derived from the Hebrew "Pales- 
cheth," which means "the land of the Philistines," occurs in the bible 
in Exodus xv. : 1 4 and Isaiah xiv. :29-31 , and should properly be applied 
only to the southwest quarter of the area above described, that portion 
stretching along the seashore from Gaza to Caesarea, and inland to 
the mountains of Judea and Ephraim, which was anciently Philistia. 
The most ancient name of the country, however, is Canaan; and this 
is evidently owing to the descent of the people inhabiting it at one time, 
from Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, and grandson of Noah. 

11 



146 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



In the time of Christ, when the Romans were in possession of Syria, 
Palestine was divided into four provinces of Galilee, Samaria, Judea 
and Perea, which last included all the country of Gilead and Moab 
east of the Jordan and the Dead sea. 

The country is very mountainous, and in one part, namely the valley 
of the Jordan, is much below the level of the Mediterranean. Its 
climate, therefore, varies greatly, some districts being very cold and 
others very warm while the quality of the soil varies at least as much as 
the temperature; some parts, such as Hebron and the plain of Sharon, 
being extraordinarily fertile, while in other districts there is little but 
rock, sand and stones. 

Palestine is now, and has been for many centuries, under the domin- 
ion of the sultans of Turkey. The governor of Jerusalem, who holds 
his authority directly from Constantinople, and has three kainnakams 
under him, governs the districts of the Mutsarafiate El Kuds, which 
includes Hebron, Jericho, Gaza, Jaffa, Ramleh and Lydda, with 
numerous villages, while the northern districts are under the Vilayet 
of Syria. 

First the line of coast we make, 
Merom next, a marshy lake; 
Then the sea of Galilee 
Exactly east of Carmel, see. 
The Jordan river flows through both 
To the Dead sea on the south, 
While the Great sea westward lies 
Stretching far as sunset skies. 

Looking northward, you may view 

Lebanon and Hermon, too; 

Carmel and Gilboa grim, 

Tabor, Ebal, Gerizim. 

Near Jerusalem we see 

Olivet and Calvary; 

Judea's hills rise south and west 

Of lonely Nebo's lowering crest. 

On Zion stands Jerusalem, 
Six miles south is Bethlehem; 
On Olive's slopes is Bethany, 
Bethabara by Jordan see. 
Our Savior drank at Sychar's well; 
Of boyhood days let Nazareth tell; 
At Cana water turned to wine, 
Showed our Lord to be divine. 



Canaan. 



147 



Capernaum by Galilee 

Near its twin Bethsaida see; 

Caesarea Philippi 

At Hermon's base is seen to lie; 

Along the coast these three appear, 

Gaza, Joppa, Caesarea; 

South to Bethel we may go, 

To Hebron next and Jericho. 

From heathen Tyre materials came 
To build a temple to God's name; 
The sorrowing widow's son at Nain, 
Jesus raised to life again. 
See Dan, where Jordan's waters rise, 
Beersheba nearer tropic skies; 
North and south these cities stand 
And mark the length of Israel's land- 

We had arrived at our destination in safety. We had reached the 
Land of Canaan. 

We were about to enter the threshold of Palestine, the land in 
which God frequently in times past spoke face to face with his people 
Israel, and in which his son Jesus Christ lived among men, the land 
more revered than any other. 

At Beyrout the Kurfurst party was divided in several sections to 
proceed to Jerusalem by many different routes and meet there in time 
for the great World's Sunday School convention. The saying that "all 
roads lead from Rome" was somewhat reversed, as we expected to 
meet in Jerusalem by each one of the several routes we had chosen. A 
party of over 1 00 were to leave the steamer for Beyrout very early in 
the morning to go by rail to Damascus and then on horse back from 
Damascus to Jerusalem. Other divisions would leave the steamer at 
Haifa and Jaffa. Our assembling together aboard the ship would not 
again be as it had been. At Beyrout the Jessup family arrived at 
their destination and were heartily welcomed home by numerous friends. 

The leader from New York to Beyrout was Dr. Henry H. Jessup, 
silver haired, past three score years and ten, whose life of service in the 
Syrian field reads like a story from the annals of the New Testament 
church. The members of the cruise found his practical knowledge of 
customs and practices in eastern lands invaluable as a guide to conduct 



148 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



on shore. For Dr. Jessup, though having embarked in ill health, was 
ever ready to respond to demands for counsel and information and 
public address. His loving pride in the missionary institutions at Bey- 
rout, the Syrian Protestant college and the press, was contagious in its 
enthusiasm, and his joy at returning to his field of labor for the remain- 
ing years of his life did not accord with certain popular and mistaken 
notions of missionary sacrifice. Hereafter to us his memory will be 
associated with the city of Beyrout. He cordially invited us to visit 
the college and press during our stay at Beyrout which we were 
pleased to do. 

The morning was beautiful, the sea calm, and from the ship the 
city looked inviting. Beyrout contains a population of more than 
150,000, and is beautifully located, with the heights of Lebanon plainly 
to be seen in the distance. It has grown with a rapidity of our western 
towns, and is sometimes termed the Yankee City of Syria, and, for an 
eastern city, is wonderfully clean. 

Those who remained on the steamer when the Damascus division 
had departed were to land in small boats, and we were instructed by 
the little billet left at our plates the evening before not to forget our 
carriage transfer tickets to and from the American college. We had 
been instructed previously by our conductor, Herbert E. Clark, during 
the entire stay in Turkey and Palestine, to have our passports in readi- 
ness at any time for inspection. This little injunction I had neglected, 
however, and though I carried the passport, I was obliged to resort to 
a hurried exploration before it could be obtained to present to the 
Turkish officials as we passed through the custom house gate, and 
with whom I left it with some misgivings, as before when presented it 
had either been hurriedly inspected or entirely discarded. 

Although there were many carriages and the distance not great, it 
took some time to convey our party of 600, and we waited long to 
secure a carriage. Our driver evidently was making up for lost time. 
His great ambition was to be first. He drove rapidly through the 
streets, applying the whip and yelling at the top of his voice as he 
endeavored to pass every other carriage, and nearly always succeeded, 



A Famous Trio of Americans, Beyrout. 



(I>r. Henry II. Jessup, missionary in Syria for forty years; Dr. Daniel 

Eliss and Howard Bliss.) 



Canaan. 



151 



though he sometimes raced his horses on the gallop with others equally 
as ambitious, regardless of the safety of the precious charge entrusted 
to him. But very fortunately we landed at our destination in safety. 

We were heart ly welcomed at the assembly hall of the college, 
where we listened to several short speeches. We also heard again Mr. 
Jessup's voice for the last time, as he replied to words of welcome 
at his return. 

Dr. Howard S. Bliss, the president, is a masterful, competent, wide- 
sympathied man, but he would be first to point to the figure of his 
venerable sire, and say, "To him be the honor." Dr. Daniel Bliss — 
tall, snow-crowned, with the features of a leader and the magnetism of 
one who has gone about doing good, would tell you of his help-meet, 
spared — as may she long be — to do as much for amelioration by force 
of example as he could hope to do by precept. The twain have reached 
the golden wedding stage, and their name and fame are known of all 
from Constantinople to Damascus, from Athens to the upper cataract 
of the Nile. 

In the hall were fully 600 youths, ranging in age from the lad of 
15 to the bearded man of 30 or 35. In the open, 90 per cent, of the 
headgear would have been fezzes, and not a few Syrians wore shirts, 
sashes, and even trousers of hues more pronounced than occidentals are 
wont to see or use. There were some Americans, but of these an 
overwhelming majority had been naturalized in the states, and had re- 
turned to Syria to be educated. There were Turks, Armenians, 
Persians, Greeks, Italians, Jews, Egyptians, Arabs, Bedouins, Sou- 
danese — in short almost every oriental race or tribe within a radius of 
1,000 miles was represented. Attentive, intelligent, dignified, they sat; 
but, at a permissive sign from their president, rose as one, and gave 
three cheers and a tiger, as hearty as ever pealed. 

We were furnished with a lunch from the steamer, and lemonade 
by the college, which we enjoyed, in picnic style, on the beautiful 
grounds of the college campus. The students were pleased to show us 
about the buildings and grounds and to accompany us to any part of 
the city desired. T*e campus and buildings were much to be proud of, 



152 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

and the library and reading rooms were elegant and extensive. We 
recorded cur names and could hardly resist the temptation of "biding 
a while" in the reading room as we caught sight of the late papers in 
English, for we had known but little of home and the outer world since 
leaving New York city. A lady of Beyrout gave a reception in 
honor of the delegates. 

- In 1 866 this college opened in three small hired rooms in the 
crowded city. But at this time it is a group of sixteen splendid build- 
ings on a sightly and ample campus of forty acres, overlooking the 
Mediterranean to the westward and with a gleaming vision of the 
Lebanon on its eastward horizon. Within these walls are 365 rooms, 
the largest of which, the beautiful assembly hall, will accommodate 
800 people, and the end of the graduation brings us to the smaller 
bedrooms of the dormitory. Sixteen students at the first roll call have 
increased to 647. About 80 per cent, of the original number paid 
nothing for the privileges of the institution. In 1901 only 3 per cent, 
were wholly charity students. At first only about 1 2 per cent, 
paid in full all dues ; this last year 74 per cent, paid their way to the 
last piaster. The large outlay required in the establishment of such an 
extensive plant in so short a time has been supplied by generous and 
far sighted friends of the college, and a substantial endowment fund is 
already initiated. 

The entire number of those who have entered the college and spent 
some time there as students, including present undergraduates, amounts 
to about 3,000. Its students are professional leaders, men of affairs, 
officials in government service, many under the English in Egypt. 
Preachers, teachers and in all ranks of life they are the coming men 
of the Levant. A new promising feature of the curriculum is a school 
of commerce, in which young men pursue a three years' course for 
commercial life, so that they will be competent to assume practical 
responsibility in the business world and can hope for success on a basis 
of training and capability. Theological instruction is given as suitable 
classes are formed. The opportunities for religious work and influence 
in the college are unbounded. If they do not correspond with the 



Canaan. 153 

usual and conventional opportunities, they are not the less real. Per- 
haps they are all the greater for being different from the ordinary 
means of approach, to discover and to utilize their opportunity in such a 
way as to make impressive and urgent the supreme importance of living 
one's life according to God's plan and in the spirit of Jesus Christ. 
This is the great task and privilege. Schools and a seminary are also 
established here for girls. 

The little band of Christian pioneers who came from America in 
1819 and 1820 found this indeed an empire of darkness. It was like 
exploring in the Arctic night, with no light but the aurora overhead. 
But they were men of God, of faith and courage, of grit and godliness, 
who came to occupy the land of Christ, to study the people, the 
language, the customs, the religion and the climate — to open schools 
where hardly one in a hundred could read, to prepare books for a people 
who had none, to preach the old gospel, to translate the bible into this 
difficult tongue, and to found an evangelical church. They found almost 
universal illiteracy, a people dominated by the medieval tyranny of 
corrupt ecclesiastics, jealousy and hatred among the conflicting religious 
sects, suspicion of everything foreign, a difficult language and the 
arrogance and contempt of the Mohammedans. Amid wars and pesti- 
lence, persecution and banishment they held on and persevered. And 
now, at the beginning of the twentieth century, we find public sentiment 
throughout the land revolutionized on the subject of education for both 
sexes, a vast number of readers raised up among all the sects and 
nationalities. 

From the campus we walked a long way through the residential part 
of the city, where were many attractive homes, whose lawns were beauti- 
fied by flowers and shrubbery, and whose street fronts were lined with 
trees, many of them bearing blossoms of various hues, and leaves of a 
thick dark green. One of our party, who lived in the south, named 
many of them as we passed, but I am sorry I cannot recollect the names 
she mentioned. 

The 4th of April, the day we were at Beyrout, was a holiday, 
Easter feast day, and many of the leading bazaars, of which there were 



154 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



many, were closed, but to a few we had access. I was in pursuit of a 
parasol, which I purchased for a reasonable sum, and had no cause for 
regret at the price paid; but the student who accompanied us thought 
it could have been purchased for less money. Some of the bazaars 
seemed to be underground, or several steps below the level of the street. 
Through the dark, unattractive door of the entrance one was surprised 
to see large, clean compartments containing nearly every article con- 
ceivable. Articles made or ornamented with ivory especially attracted 
my attention. 

In 1 834 a printing press was removed from Malta to Beyrout. 
Publication work followed in logical sequence and is of the highest 
value. The mission through its press has served all neighboring mis- 
sions, for it has supplied bibles, educational text books, religious reading, 
scientific works and a standard of literature in pure, elegant Arabic, to 
all using that language, from Morocco to India. The Beyrout press 
is now worth not less than $90,000; and the stock, bound and unbound, 
not less than another $90,000. Of this stock the Religious Tract 
society owns about $15,000, and the American Tract society $5,000. 
The orders of the American Bible society keep the wheels flying, winter 
and summer, and small store rooms for the finished bibles are nearly 
always empty. One's imagination must take a wide flight completely 
around the earth if he would know where all the bibles go. The bible, 
in whole or m parts, is found for sale in seventy different forms. Since 
its foundation, the press has printed in all over 700,000,000 pages, 
more than two-thirds of which are of the word of God. To this part 
missionaries and their helpers have given over seventy years of labor. 

Syria gave the gospel to the west nineteen centuries ago. In the 
nineteenth century the west has been giving back the gospel to Syria; 
thousands of men who have been abroad, as emigrants or travelers, 
returning with new ideas and broadened views; the power of the hie- 
rarchy greatly weakened; the bible in thousands of homes; the Syrian 
Protestant college in Beyrout wielding an immense influence all over 
western Asia and northern Africa ; an increasing demand for the Arabic 
scriptures; the evangelical churches beginning to realize their responsi- 



Canaan. 



157 



bility ; a great increase in the native newspaper press ; general advance 
in the construction of wagon roads, bridges and postal routes; better 
dwellings and some railways in operation ; and, in fine, a material, 
intellectual and moral awakening which is the preparation for a new 
Syria in the new century at hand. 

In Beyrout we were really in Syria, and came to understand the 
meaning of the "Syrian sun," concerning which we had been warned. 
Strange to say, the air itself, in the shade and the wind as it came from 
the hills, was very cool ; but the sun was exceedingly hot, and very 
penetrating. Its effect seems first to be felt at the back of the neck, 
and all natives and Europeans who are accustomed to the climate take 
pains to protect the back of the head and neck. The native headdress 
of the Arabs is something like a large cotton handkerchief folded corner- 
wise, and passed over the head in the way women sometimes wear 
shawls when they run to a neighbor's house. To keep these cloths in 
place a ring as large as the head, made of weighted and wadded 
material rests upon the cloth. The natives care little about keeping the 
sun from their eyes. Shade hats seem to be unknown, but the practice 
of protecting the head and neck is universal. 

Several of the party visited the ruins of Baalbek, not far from 
Beyrout. The rums of Baalbek, in some respects, are the most won- 
derful now known. Such grandeur of design and grace of execution 
have not been approached since the days of Solomon. Here are to be 
seen real masterpieces of Grecian architecture. The most interesting 
ruins are in the Acropolis ; the lower story or subterranean passage, the 
propylaea, the outer or hexagonal court ; the great court, or pantheon ; 
the great temple of the sun; the little temple of Jupiter, the Arabian 
buildings, and lastly the exterior of the enclosure. The temples are built 
upon substructures seemingly sufficient to support the earth, the materials 
used being blocks of stone as large as an ordinary freight car. The 
substructures are traversed by tunnels of masonry through which a train 
of American cars might pass. 

The temple of the sun is some 300 feet long and 1 00 feet by 60 
feet wide. It had fifty-four columns around it, but only six are now 



158 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



standing. The others lie broken at its base. These six columns, ninety 
feet high, are perfect specimens of Corinthian capitals and entablature. 
When one has gazed aloft till his eyes are weary he has only to glance 
at the great fragments of pillars among which he stands. He will find 
them eight feet through. Here also lie beautiful capitals as large as an 
ordinary cottage. 

The temple of Jupiter is smaller, but in better condition. There 
is one row of nine columns sixty-five feet high, supporting a kind of roof 
which is composed of slabs of stone so finely sculptured that the work 
on the under side looks like fresco. The ornamentation is elaborate 
and colossal. What a brilliant wonder of architecture this edifice 
must have been when new! One may well wonder how these immense 
blocks were ever raised to the dizzy height they occupy ; yet these 
are toys when compared with the rough hewn blocks that form the 
wide veranda which surrounds the great temple capital. A part of the 
platform, 200 feet long, is composed of blocks of sione, some as large 
as a freight car; in another section of the platform there were three 
stones, each of which seemed to be as long as three ordinary cottages 
side by side, the longest being sixty-nine feet in length, seventeen feet in 
width and fourteen feet seven inches in height. It contained 1 3,000 
cubic feet, and is supposed to weigh 2,270,000 pounds. This is the 
largest stone in the world, and has a mate in the quarry nearby. How 
such stones are taken from the quarries and put into the temple is a 
question worthy of discussion. And in the midst of all this there was 
a beautiful stream flowing onward in gentle beauty, like some wonder- 
ful dream. 



Damascus. 



159 



CHAPTER XL 

Damascus, the Oldest City in the World, and Our Ride on Horseback 

to the Sea of Galilee. 

The distance from Beyrout to Damascus is not more than 70 miles; 
the time by train is nine and a half hours. We left about 7 o'clock 
in the morning, and reached Damascus at half past 4 that afternoon. 
The long time consumed is not entirely due to oriental railroad methods 
and locomotives. The journey is across the backbone of the Lebanons, 
and is a feat" of mountain climbing and engineering that reminds one 
of the railroads in Colorado. And the graudeur of the mountain 
scenery we had in that all-day ride, from the seacoast city of the new 
East to Genesis — old Damascus, was for some of us as unexpected as it 
was impressive. 

Our various stopping places gave us interesting glimpses of nature 
life along the railroad. At Jemhur, as elsewhere, the food venders plied 
their trade. Here we tried a different sort of bread, buying it in thin, 
flexible sheets like chamois skin, and with it a sort of sour goats' milk, 
like American "cottage cheese" or curds — rather sharp to the taste and 
not unpleasant. 

Acre after acre of vineyards, bare and unleaved at that season — 
early in April — the vines lying flat on the ground after the manner of the 
East, had been passed, when a snow-crowned mountain to the south 
stood out in white splendor. More and more does it seem probable 
that it was to Mount Hermon, isolated and undisturbed in its lonely 
grandeur, that Jesus, burdened with the disciples' failure to compre- 
hend his mission and the spirit of self-crucifying service which must be 
His and theirs, took Peter and James and John six days after they had 
come into the parts of Caesarea Philippi (a few miles south of Her- 
mon), in order to receive there the witness of the law and the prophets 



160 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



to his messiahship, and the word of God himself in renewed testimony 

to his sonship. He "bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and 
he was transfigured before them." 

At one point our train passed through a collection of low, flat, mud 
houses, much broader than they were high, the roofs of sod, and the 
walls of mud or clay, or in some cases of stone plastered with mud. A 
little further on, buffalo and oxen were feeding by farmhouses, and a 
donkey jogged by, laden with water jars, a boy sitting well back over 
the little beast's hind legs. A drove of swine that we saw were peace- 
fully free from the intrusion of any evil spirit. 

At another station, Reyak, a group of young Bedouin men and boys 
gathered smilingly about us, and one of them made signs for me to take 
his picture, which I did. Their picturesque camel's hair robes, silken 
keffie, and heavy black cords surmounting their heads, set off the natural 
beauty of their skin and hair and eyes. One young boy in particular 
had a smile of laughing eyes and gleaming faultless teeth that would 
have made the reputation of any professional beauty of Paris or New 
York. Another held out his black camel's hair keffie cord for sale. 
Mr. Sabra took it, and held onto it as the train began to pull slowly 
out of the station. The boy saw that he was trapped, and made a good- 
natured gesture as though to say "all right!" He seemed really 
surprised when, a moment later, Mr. Sabra tossed the cord back to him. 

And so nine hours and a half passed all too quickly. This railroad 
has been built a little more than a decade, and many a roadside 
watcher eyed our train curiosly. Children in characteristic dress would 
wave and shout to us. Boys tending goats and women washing 
clothes in the bed of a stream stopped their work or turned to follow 
the steam and steel intruder with their eyes. Another police officer 
examined our passports critically as the facts were explained to him 
by Mr. Sabra. We had crossed the snowcrested Anti-Lebanon range, 
and we came to a final stop in the largest and busiest station we had 
seen since 7 o'clock that morning, the terminal of our line, Damascus. 



Damascus. 



161 



Through the streets of the oldest city in the world we were whirled 
in our carriages until we came alongside a stream, the river Barada, or 
the Abana of the Old Testament (II. Kings, v.: 12). In an open field 
to the right, fifteen white tents, circular and conetopped, were ranged 
in tidy order. A long, narrow tent completed the circle formed by 
the others. It was our first view of camp — our movable home for the 
next ten days. To lift your tent flap and look in gives you a pleasur- 
able start. Great rainbow-colored characters in Moorish or Arabic 
figures, fantastic and weird, made a lurid wallpaper design different 
from anything ever seen at home. But it is a cozy effect, and it is 
not wallpaper, but substantial, heavy cotton backed by the stout can- 
vas of the outer tent. Two or three cotbeds of metal frame, a table 
holding tin washbasins and pictures, and the grassy floor covered by 
oriental rugs, complete the furnishing of this luxurious tent home. We 
have time for but a look, leave our bags, carefully tagged with our own 
names, the name of our party, and our tent number in Arabic and 
English and start back into the city for a glimpse of its wonders. 

It could be but a glimpse, in the hour or two left before sunset, 
and the three or four hours that we should have the following morning 
before we set out for Jerusalem. But in that brief time we could have 
a sight of the worldfamed bazaars of Damascus, whose like we had 
seen in Constantinople; and of the "street which is called Straight," 
running east and west almost through the entire city ; and of the great 
mosque which is still beautiful and impressive in spite of the destructive 
fire that attacked it some years ago. On the streets were negroes of 
such blackness as is never seen in America — to call them coal black 
is not an exaggeration. One donkey's tail was a study in applied art, 
the hair being neatly trimmed into a series of three tassels, one above 
the other. Frequently you will see an elaborate checkerboard pattern 
worked out on the donkey's flanks by the clipping of the hair. Some 
of the men's and boys' heads were shaved close to the skull. The 
streets were occasionally shaded from the sun by awnings which stretch 
completely across the street. 



12 



162 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



We were beginning to realize what "bread" means to an oriental, 
and the prominent place it has in his life. Bread of all sizes, shapes and 
varieties in the bazaars; plain and fancy hollow bread, seeded bread, 
salted bread, thin rope-like strings of bread, small cubes, round pancakes 
of it, and the chamois skin syle that we had pulled apart and eaten with 
cheese on the train. A bit of bread and garlic thrust into his flowing 
shirt will keep a Syrian boy for a walking journey of miles. "I am the 
bread of life" had a significance to that people beyond its meaning to an 
occidental. 

It was particularly interesting to step into the houses of some of the 
wealthiest Damascenes. Here was oriental splendor and luxury, though 
not conformed to our ideas of comfort in living. In the center of the 
marble floored central court is a fountain, and palms and flowers abound. 
One side of the rectangle opens into a lounging recess, where low couches 
are set by the walls, and the nargileh is smoked, and life is taken easy. 
The rooms of these dwellings almost invariably have marble or mosaic 
floors and walls, which, while ornate and rich, seem peculiarly cold and 
uninviting for living purposes. 

This was our last chance to buy whatever we yet needed for our long 
horseback journey, and one purchase that was particularly useful, while 
remaining today a prized memento of the East, was a pair of antique 
saddlebags of hand-woven fabric almost handsome enough for a rug. 
Straw hats were purchased, too, and light keffiehs of silk or cotton to pro- 
tect the head and neck from the withering heat of Syria's midday sun. 
Tent number 8, with its hospitable glow of color and snug cotbeds, 
seemed very much like home as Mrs. Trumbull and I returned to it that 
evening, tired out and chilly and longing for a taste of American cooked 
food. It was certainly more homelike than the cheerless hotels, each 
with its gloomy, damp center court open to the sky, stone floors, dining 
rooms dimly lighted by flickering kerosene lamps, and "lounging room" 
adjoining the court, equally damp and cheerless, through which my friend 
and I had wandered that evening in search of a place to dine. Genuine 
roughing it one does not mind; but the pseudo comfort of a Damascus 
hotel is a thing to dread. Brightly burning candles on the washstand 
converted into writing desk lighted my evening labors as I worked over a 




The Street Called Straight, Damascus. 



Damascus. 



165 



manuscript on my tent campstool late into the night. Dogs barked out- 
side ; the sentries and dragomans were singing strange songs of the orient, 
such as no American can imitate. The brilliancy of the Syrian stars was 
not imagined. But dogs and sentries and stars were soon forgotten when 
once under the compelling spell of those compelling cotbeds and the 
sleepy chill of the night air. 

At 5 :30 next morning the "donkey band" exploded. It is more ef- 
fectual than a Waterbury alarm clock. It is made of heavy bronze cow- 
bells or donkey bells, a steady thunderous beating of tin pans and an oc- 
casional bray of the donkeys themselves. The "band" passes around the 
entire circle of the camp, missing no tent. You do not sleep through it. 
You dare not sleep after it, for you know that the Damascus overland 
party waits for no one. Bags must be packed and left in the tents before 
going to breakfast. As we left the breakfast tent we saw why. Many 
of our sleeping tents were down, baggage was being dumped into great 
canvas packbags and bundled onto the backs of donkeys, and the general 
atmosphere of dismantling a country circus prevailed. Some of the mule- 
teers were having a hard time getting the sturdy little donkeys to cross a 
plank bridge over a stream a couple of feet wide. One of the animals 
resisted until he had broken his halter. At 1 1 that morning we were to 
begin our nine days' ride through the heart of Palestine. The best part 
of the pilgrimage was at hand. 

In a straggling procession, suiting the gaits of their horses to their indi- 
vidual tastes, the forty "Damascus Rough Riders" set out on their ten 
days' ride to Jerusalem. Along the banks of the river Abana the pil- 
grimage began. 

Directly ahead of us, blocking our path on the far western horizon, 
towered Hermon's range. The snow that crowned its summit was not 
gleaming silver, but of a wonderfully soft whiteness, as of purity itself. 
Back of us rose the mountains of Damascus. On our right hand, to the 
north — for we moved almost due west for a while — were sweeping hills 
of pale brown, plowed fields, the goats grazing on the parched, hardly 
visible patches of grass, looking like hundreds of tiny black spots in 
the distance. To the south, on our left hand, were mountains again. 



166 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



A clump of figures in red are crouched together on the ground in a near- 
by field, pulling weeds. A shepherd and his dog watch their flock, as 
of old; cattle are grazing in a green meadow. Silently little parties of 
natives pass us on the road, the women often astride the horses or dimin- 
utive donkeys, while the men are sitting sideways. A goatherd stands 
picturesquely in red cloak and white turban. Buzzards float lazily 
overhead. Two Syrian peasant boys passing, whom I greet on a ven- 
ture, look at each other, then burst into loud laughter, very much as 
some American boys would at such a strange proceeding. Another 
boy bright-faced, sings merrily, showing his faultlessly white teeth as he 
jogs along on his donkey, his legs swinging on one side. Now we 
watch a goatherd as he stands a little distance ahead of his flock and 
whistles a peculiar call, while they confidentially move his way. There 
is something one does not see in the West — leading, not driving, the 
flock. The sight of mounted Bedouins, rifhs and shotguns slung over 
the shoulder, remind us that we shall do well to keep together, and ex- 
plains why our young English director, Mr. Hillier, is so careful to keep 
a dragoman at each end of our cavalcade, that there be no stragglers. 

Our real acquaintance with Shukrey Hishmeh began that morning, 
though some of us had first met him in the railway station at Beyrout 
two days before. Shukrey was our dragoman. We had all known 
how prominent a part the word "dragoman" plays m the accounts 
brought back by travelers m the East. The dragoman seems to be such 
an important and ever present factor of a journey in Syria or Egypt, and 
the accounts of the worth or rascality of dragomans (that is not a mis- 
print) are sometimes so conflicting, that Shukrey was watched with no 
inconsiderable interest during the beginning of our journey south. He 
was to me one of the most interesting features of our entire stay in Pal- 
estine, for he was a constant revelation of new virtues. A marvel of 
tireless, neverceasing care for the comfort and safety of every American 
in his charge, he was always courteous, gentlemanly and unassuming. 
Even with the muleteers and campboys, Shukrey rarely lost his tem- 
per — and that is saying much for an oriental. When he did break 
forth upon one of them it was for good cause ; but usually he set the rest 



Damascus. 



167 



of us an example in Christian self-control and unruffled sweetness of dis- 
position, that gave more than one of us something to think about. 

Paul was coming to be an old friend. For nineteen centuries 
Christian pilgrims in all lands have rejoiced in the privilege of following 
in his footsteps. That privilege was now ours in a peculiar, precious 
sense. There was a brief rest at Artoos, which marks the traditional 
point on the road to Damascus where Paul's vision took place; then 
mount and push on, for we had lunched before starting on this first day's 
ride, and we must reach our camping ground before nightfall. 

We rode by a great stretch of rocky ground that afternoon, where 
there were plowed fields that would make the work of a New England 
farmer in his rocky soil seem like ease and luxury. One ought not to 
call these fields in northeast Palestine rocky ground, but rather earthy 
rocks ! Rocks were the main thing ; soil was the exception. The 
fields were floors of earth-sprinkled boulders. You could walk across 
some of them, I believe, without once putting foot on clear ground — and 
without taking long steps, either. Yet this stony floor was plowed! 
Surely, where "the sower went forth to sow his seed," it must have been 
that much good seed "fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it with- 
ered away, because it had no moisture." How the eyes of Christ's 
hearers must have looked appreciation as he spoke that parable, neigh- 
bor glancing at neighbor as if to say, "We know what that kind of 
planting is!" 

We rode up to the brow of the last hill before reaching camp, hav- 
ing traveled mile after mile of barren country, and our hearts leaped at 
what we saw. It was surely magic! Trees in trim rows, like a beau- 
tiful New England orchard, told of water and shade and fruitfulness. 
A stream ran like silver around the base of a green hill. As far as the 
eye could see, stretched velvety fields and gently swelling green hills. 
Great flocks of goats grazed fat and contented. A thin line of smoke 
told of camp, yet a long way off. Darkness was coming down, and 
we were tired and aching with the long, first day in the saddle; but who 
could fail to get fresh life and delight in such a picture? We rode on 
eagerly ; there was an exciting gallop to be first in, the women of the 
party joining eagerly in the race, and Kefr Hauwar was ours. 



168 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



It was the first evening camp dinner after leaving Damascus, I think, 
that Mr. Hillier gave us a surprise. The comforts of camp indeed 

were continually surprising us. We had course dinners at night, begin- 
ning with hot soup and ending with dessert; and frequently, when we 
reached camp early enough, afternoon tea would be served in the dining 
tent. American men are not, as a rule, great tea drinkers, but that aft- 
ernoon tea on the way to Jerusalem, served hot and fragrant after a long 
hard day in the saddle, was about as grateful and refreshing a draught as 
we had ever known. The men were quite as sure to be on hand as the 
women. 

Mr. Hillier's little surprise greeted us as we took our places at the 
dinnner table. It was a full fledged printed evening menu, such as we 
had been accustomed to see on the Kurfurst every night, but hardly to 
be expected on the road from Damascus. The outside page bore the 
familiar "Norddeutscher Lloyd-Bremen," and some gaily colored pic- 
tures of scenes in Cairo. The second page gave us a "souvenir list" of 
the names of the members of the Damascus overland party. The third 
page had a startling menu, including such dishes as "potage a la Baal- 
bek." "fillet de ram de Jericho," "artichokes de Jerusalem," "oranges 
de Jaffa," "fruits de Mer Morte," and "eau de Jordan." Even the 
customary "Musik Program" was not overlooked for on the last page 
were announced the following selections: 

1 — "Welcome, Little Stranger" (march) Shukrey Hismeh 

2 — "Palestine, My Happy Home" George Jallup 

3 — "Chorus de la Homah" Full Band 

4 — "Schottische de Jackal" Mustapha Jackal 

Our entire company party was together only at nighttime and break- 
fast. While we would be taking our noonday rest of two or three 
hours the pack camp pushed on ahead of us and did its best each day 
to have the tents set up and everything in readiness before we should 
catch it again at night. The dining tent was not used for luncheon. 
We made that a picnic meal, sitting on the ground about rugs on which 
the food was set. But when we all came together, each night, it was 
a genuine caravan indeed. 

In addition to the forty pilgrims and our English director, there 
were two dragomans, two cooks, seven waiters, thirty-six muleteers un- 



Damascus, 



169 



der a head muleteer, twenty donkeys, forty-nine mules and fifty-three 
horses — a total of eighty-nine persons and one hundred and twenty-two 
animals. To look after this camp and cavalcade was a heavy respon- 
sibility, and Shukrey and Mr. Hillier were marvels of vigilance and 
forethought in their tireless care. At each camping place Shukrey 
would engage men from among the natives living there to patrol the 
camp all night as sentinels and watchmen — and then he would sit up 
most of the night and watch his watchmen! The arrangement was said 
to be more a matter of blackmail or "protection" than anything else. 
We paid the natives, under the name of watchmen, not to rob us. But 
it worked well, and there were no robberies or even losses of any impor- 
tance during the entire journey. 

The eastern sky was pale yellow as we left Kefr Hauwar and start- 
ed out on our course just south of westward for Caesarea Philippi and 
Dan. That day's ride must take us over the southern spur of Mount 
Hermon itself. The range was still directly ahead of us ; we could see 
a village nestled at its side. 

A pile of stones, the traditional tomb of Nimrod, "mighty hunter of 
the Lord," is pointed out to us. As I dismounted to take a photograph, 
a native kindly offered me a stick for my horse; my grateful acceptance 
was promptly followed by a suggestion that bakhshish would be proper 
for thanks. At another point on the road a passing Bedouin stopped 
one of our camp assistants and asked for a cigaret, which was supplied. 

From a hilltop we could see in the distance southeast the great plain 
of Hauran, and close at hand the river Pharpar. Its crystal waters 
have often been noted by travelers as explaining Naaman's wrath at 
Elisha's instructions to wash in the Jordan and the question, "Are not 
Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters 
of Israel?" 

About 1 o'clock on the morning of that second day we came to the 
foot of Hermon itself, no longer in the distance. Shukrey makes a pic- 
turesque figure on his graceful Syrian horse as he gallops along to one 
side of your line, calling directions to his men. We pass two English 
persons riding toward Damascus; their dragoman and Shukrey exchange 



170 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



greetings, stopping their horses and shaking each other's hands in west- 
ern fashion. A native man rides by us on a donkey, while a woman, 
presumably his wife, walks behind. Other peasants pass us on the road, 
bearing great bundles of brush on their heads. In a field are two men 
in red coats, blue trousers, one with a red and white head covering, at 
work pruning some very dead looking vines. I drop my rems on my 
horse's neck, stick my riding switch into my legging, and make notes as 
my trusty animal walks unguided, steadily forward, up or down rocky, 
precipitous places, feeling cautiously with his sensitive feet for safe foot- 
holds or breaks into a gentle trot at will. 

Shortly before noon we pass a little Druse village that looks lik* 
not much more than a low stone wall. A woman carrying a water jar 
stands picturesquely in the center of a field gazing curiosly at us, then 
turns and hurries on her way as though to make up for lost time. The 
fields just there are blue with for-get-me-nots. Two of our muleteers stop 
to drink at a brook; one gets flat down, face to the water, lapping like a 
dog; the other dips up the water with his hand — echo of Gideon's 300. 

Midday brings us to a threshing floor — a level bit of ground 
some acres in extent, belonging to a large Druse village built on a 
hillside, terrace upon terrace of pale brown huts. The children and 
grown folks swarm about us as the rugs are spread on the ground 
for our picnic lunch. Daggers, coins and trinkets of all sorts are be- 
seechingly offered for sale. The word "Emshee," sharply spoken, 
sends them off when they get too insistent, or our dragomans take a 
hand and expostulate with them furiously. A laughing, noisy crowd of 
Druse boys and young men line up and play a game that seems to be a 
cross between football and basketball. 

The regular noonday rest of our overland party lasts from about 
1 2 o'clock to 3 ; or less if the day's journey demands. But it is 
intended to avoid riding in the intense heat of midday, and is a very 
necessary precaution. Some of us expected to do a great deal of study 
and writing each day in those noonday hours and after reaching camp 
at night. But as a rule the hours out of saddle would pass all too 
quickly in quiet rest under the shade of a tree, or in personal conversa- 



Damascus. 



173 



tion with intimate friends, or in walks of investigation and discovery 
in the neighborhood. Close study and writing were a little too much 
to attempt after such horseback riding as we had. The spirit yielded 
gracefully to the flesh. A castle high on a hilltop is our first glimpse 
of Banias, or Caesarea Philippi. Below it is the present village of 
about fifty small houses. 

Leaving our horses in camp, we walk a few hundred yards to a 
place of grassy banks and rocky slope, like a section of a natural 
amphitheater. That quiet pool just under the brush by a stone wall is 
what we have been hunting for — one of the sources of the Jordan. 
This and another a little distance away to the west at Dan, which we 
saw early the next morning, are the only two mentioned by ancient 
writers as sources of the river. 

As I stooped beside the crystal waters of the spring that feeds the 
Jordan and drank from my hand, a woman from the village nearby 
came at sunset to fill her water jar. She uttered a syllable or two in 
courteous acknowledgment of my presence, modestly drew her veil 
over her face, and bent down to draw water from the living spring. 
I picked a couple of stones from the water to carry home with me, and 
came away. How the scenes of Christ's life repeat themselves, day 
after day, in this land! When we reached the tents again dinner was 
ready and so were we! Our food on that camping trip was always 
good, jf it had only had American cooking. But even fresh chicken or 
tender mutton, if stewed with vegetables and strong goat's butter, loses 
a bit of its native flavor. The meats and vegetables were of the best, 
and we had a good variety, but everything tasted the same. So the 
flavors that had the charm of novelty at first became monotonously 
familiar after a few meals. Meals, however, were a minor matter. 

It is not so bad as it sounds after all, to ride horse back in a 
drenching storm over the hills of northern Galilee. Before we had 
been many minutes in the saddle that morning we were glad we were 
adding a new experience to our lot. But we were very, very wet. Some 
were wise enough to get into their saddles as quickly as possible after 
leaving the breakfast tent, and thus had a comparatively dry place to 



174 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

sit. Umbrellas were used, for what little protection they gave. It was 
an odd looking cavalcade that moved slowly along, like giant black 
toadstools on four legs. 

A ride of five miles or less brought us to Dan, a grassy, wooded 
hill, which in the sunshine would undoubtedly have been the beautiful 
spot that it is commonly reported to be. "From Dan to Beersheba" 
we were almost to go, for Beersheba is less than fifty miles south of 
Jerusalem, and still nearer to Bethlehem. 

Our camp at the waters of Merom that night was hard by a 
Bedouin encampment. Here again were fertility and pastoral beauty 
in prodigal abundance. We climbed a mountainside to the west, and 
looked across the valley beneath us. The stream that was fed by the 
springs which we had seen at Banias and Dan, flowing south, widened 
into the small lake that is shown on one's bible map between Dan and 
the sea of Galilee. On the other side of the plain, far to the east of the 
waters of Merom, rose mountains again, brightened by the last ray 
of the sun that was sinking behind the mountains at our back. Little 
groves of trees were clustered about the banks of Merom, and the 
gleam of a white house was seen near them. Black goats and brown 
sheep, fields of red earth, yellow flowers, green grass, white, light 
green or deep green brush, made up the many colored scenes that 
stretched before us, and, distinct from all, nestled the two camps, 
a couple of hundred yards apart — the trim, round, conetopped, gleam- 
ing white tents of the Americans contrasting sharply with the irregular 
black and dull brown tents of the Bedouin. 

While the eye was taking in the great beauties of the scene the ear 
enjoyed the neverceasing jingle of the musical bells, many tongued, 
worn by the animals of the camp, the oriental cadences of a shepherd 
boy's reeds, and the faint echoes of the dragoman's excited talk and 
sharply shouted orders. Then the goats and sheep began to move 
slowly across the fields toward home. It was sundown. ' 

As I turned back to the camp I saw that a motionless figure was 
watching us. He wore on his head a white kefneh, held in place by 
a heavy black cord ; over a white bodycloth was thrown a black cloak, 



Syrian Children. 



Damascus. 



177 



the skirts reaching to the ankles. His arms were upraised, holding a 
stick that passed back of his shoulders. Motionless, silent, picturesque 
he stood, the east watching the west. 

It looked like a painting of Dore's the next morning. The sun, 
"drawing water" from the waters of Merom, made a "glory" picture 
worth remembering. We could see Caesarea Philippi far to the north, 
directly at our backs as we turned our horses' heads toward Jerusalem. 
Nearer at hand, but also behind us, were the hills of Naphtali and 
Dan. On our right were the hills which we had climbed for our sun- 
set view the night before. Even the Bedouin camp lay quiet and 
gray in the early dawn. A field ahead of us, on our left, was white 
with pelicans. 

We rode along Eucalyptus avenue, under the shade of the grace- 
ful trees, and contrasted this settlement with the wastes of the country 
through which we had traveled in the two days since leaving Damascus. 
How the land might still be made to flow with milk and honey, a veri- 
table Land of Promise, if the faces and hearts of the people could 
be turned toward the Light! 

We had left the little settlement, and were between green fields 
again. Mrs. Trumbull and I were riding by ourselves, a little apart 
from the rest of the company. As our horses, walking side by side 
reached the brow of the hill, I heard Mrs. Trumbull say quietly, 
"Look at the sea of Galilee." 

I turned and saw. There it lay, far to the south, dim and pale 
blue in the haze of the morning. There was another haze before my 
eyes, and a lump came into my throat. I could not help it, and did 
not try to. And the memory that came to me was of a song that used 
to quiet my fears, when, a little youngster, I would wake up in the 
night and cry out in fright, and my mother would come to the bedside 
and sing me to sleep. She always sang a hymn that told of a storm 
on that blue sea, and of the fishers' fright, and the heaving of the 
billows, and then of the calm and quiet when one said, "Peace, 
be still!" 

13 



From Galilee to Jerusalem. 



179 



CHAPTER XII. 

Galilee to Jerusalem. 

Church bells rang out sweetly in the morning air as we rose early 
the next day and started from Nazareth on our ride down the precipitous 
hill on which the city stands, and out across the plain of Esdraelon. 
South of Mount Tabor, which was on our east, was "Little Hermon," 
or "Hill of Moreh," where the camp of Midian was pitched, north 
of Gideon's camp; and Mount Gilboa beyond that to the south. A 
train of sixteen camels was creeping across the plain as we entered it, 
so far away that they looked like longlegged bugs. The plain from 
above shows fertile and rich in dark brown loam. Oxen are plowing 
its fields, sheep grazing, caravans creeping along its roads. A colt and 
its mother give the everpresent touch of animal home life that is every- 
where in the east, and a boy in red from head to foot stands 
picturesquely looking at us, a farming implement in his hand. It is a 
scene of peace, restful, quiet peace, inviting contrast with the furious 
memories that teem over this battlefield of the centuries. By 7:30 
o'clock, after an hour and a half in the saddle, the warmth of the 
morning sun gives promise of the noonday heat. Hands are roughened 
and lips parched and chapped from the sun and wind, but such trifles 
count little. Five days' steady riding has made seasoned horsemen 
and horsewomen of us. 

Jenin, our camping destination for that afternoon, lies on the 
southern edge of the plain, west of Gilboa. We turned aside a little 
to the east to reach Nain. Looking back from the destitute little village 
of mud huts, Nazareth was in plan view on the hills to the northwest. 
It is easy to understand how Jesus' thoughts must have turned lovingly 
back to his mother and his home in Nazareth as he saw the dead boy 
and only son being carried out from the grief stricken home in Nain, 



180 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



and thought of the desolateness of the mother there who had now lost 
both husband and son. How many funerals since that time in Nain 
have been far more desolate because Christ was not present, in body 
or in spirit! There are rockhewn graves today at Nain, silent witnesses 
to the passing of lives through the centuries. 

Through a forest of cacti ten and fifteen feet high, we rode south 
to Shunem, another little miserable mud and dung village, noisome, 
degraded, where the people, breathing the disease-laden air, live like 
animals in holes. Yet it is the place where Elisha raised the Shunam- 
mite woman's son, centuries before Christ raised the boy of the widow 
of Nain a few miles to the north. The two places stand today, rivals 
in their misery and degradation, unworthy monuments to miraculous 
blessings in their past. On our way from Shunem we passed a deep 
cut, out of which native women were carrying basketfuls of earth and 
stones, as a part of the operation of building a railroad in the plain of 
Esdraelon. Jehu, driving furiously near that very spot, little knew of 
the iron horse that would one day go steaming over that plain. 

On the slope of the hill of Jezreel we stopped and looked across 
the green valley to the east, and realized as we never had before, how 
plainly could be seen by Joram's watchman "standing on the tower 
in Jezreel," that chariot whirling up the valley on the far side, "and 
the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, for he 
driveth furiously." 

On the level crown of the hill we lunched, and then rode our horses 
down the slope on the southeast and around to the foot of Mount Gilboa. 
There, under the shadow of a mighty rock, stood cattle shoulder deep 
in a beautiful pool of water. We were at Ain Jalud, or Gideon's 
pool, which has been settled upon as being beyond question the spring 
of Harod of the seventh chapter of Judges where Gideon and all the 
people that were with him rose up early, and encamped. The camp 
of the enemy, Midian, was "on the north side of them, by the hill of 
Moreh." To this cool, inviting pond Gideon brought his men, at 
Jehovah's direction, to try them. "And the number of them that 
lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but 



From Galilee to Jerusalem. 



181 



all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 
And Jehovah said unto Gideon, by the three hundred men that lapped 
will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand." New Testa- 
ment land marks seem recent in comparison with a place of this sort. 

As we climbed the hill of Jezreel again we saw, creeping across 
the distant plain on a narrow thread of rails, what looked like a tiny 
toy train of cars. The whistle reached our ears, a faint, shrill scream, 
seconds after the puff of steam told of its sounding. The sight was 
strangely out of tune with our memories of Gideon and Ahab and 
Klijah, and I could not but hope that its kind would breed slowly in 
this Land of the Book. 

A jawbone that lay at my feet bleaching in the sun, remind i of 
Samson's fury against the Philistines down in the Shephelah, was a 
fitting protest to the encroaching of that civilized creature of steel 
and steam. 

Nearing the top of the hill I heard a strange droning sound, and 
saw a little group of native women and children huddled together. 
Thinking that the children were singing for us, I dismounted and 
walked toward them. Then I discovered, with a start, that this was a 
party of mourners at a new grave. Close to the four sides of the freshly 
made little mound sat ten women in an oval group, some with babies 
in their arms, while others sat in an outer circle, and children stood 
by on the edge of the group. Three or four of the women were the 
leaders in the mourning. Over and over they droned or chanted their 
strange, heartbreaking song. It was terrible to watch and to listen to. 
There was nothing professional or perfunctory here — the village from 
which they had come was not large enough to support paid mourners. 
It was just the outpouring of the grief stricken, desolate heart of a 
widow, shared by her closest friends and the friends of the husband 
who had gone. And their emotion was given such unrestricted expression 
as is only seen in a primitive people. We learned that the dead man 
was an humble member of the village near by, who had died four days 
before. The mourning would continue through a period of a week or 
ten days. Had the dead man been more prominent, friends would 



182 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



have come from neighboring villages and would have stayed over night 
to mourn, leaving on the second day. 

If at Bethany or Nain our Saviour saw any such grief as this at 
the going of a loved one, is it to be wondered at that "Jesus wept" — 
not because of the death of the one taken away, but at the needless and 
hopeless agony of the bereaved ones who were left? He had come 
to bear their sorrows, and to put such sorrow as we saw on the hilltop 
at Jezreel forever into the past. Yet for 2,000 years since he came 
and went, the children of his land have been mourning in that hopeless 
misery because of their blindness and the crucifying blindness of their 
fathers. How much longer must they do so? 

Down from Jezreel we rode, out into the open plain of Megiddo (or 
Esdraelon). Gazelles at a safe distance loped gracefully over the 
green fields. A man plowing, clad in white, stopped in the midst of 
his work, dropped on his knees on the rich brown soil, rested there for 
a moment, motionless, in prayer, then stood upright, bis hands up- 
raised above his head, while the ox and the ass yoked together stood 
by patiently till he should have finished his midafternoon devotions. 
A long train of camels wound slowly over the plain. We were making 
for Jenin, at the very southernmost point of the plain, the lowest apex 
of the great triangle of Esdraelon, where we were to camp over night. 
We should need a good night's sleep before pushing on next day over 
the mountains of Samaria that enclose the plain on the south. When 
I learned the next morning that we set out southwest from Jenin, leaving 
Esdraelon behind us and starting on our precipitious experiences among 
the mountains of Samaria, that Dothan was our next point of interest, 
I began to feel the reality, as I never had before, of Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob, and the favored son of Jacob, whose popularity with his 
father seemed to cost him so dearly at the hands of his jealous brothers. 
A group of five stately, graceful poplars, like sentinels at the gates of 
a stone wall, skirted by a cactus hedge, marked the spot so different 
in appearance from anything we had seen before. On the other side 
of the wall were luxuriant orchards of peach, almond and apricot trees. 



From Galilee to Jerusalem. 



183 



And there was a pit, — "the pit," tradition says — its edges protected 
by low stones carelessly placed around it, a formidable looking well 
to be let down into. When Joseph failed to find his flock-tending 
brethren at Shechem (where we were to camp that night, fourteen miles 
further south,) he moved on to Dothan, you remember, and they, seeing 
him afar off, "conspired against him to slay him * * * Behold, this 
dreamer cometh * * Let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits." 

On the road in the distance, as I lifted up my eyes and looked, a 
train of camels moved slowly by. It was startlingly like what happened 
when Joseph's brothers, after casting him into the pit, "sat down to 
eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a 
caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels 
bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt." 
As we rode on our way we saw, a few minutes later, to the right and 
west of us, an old caravan road to Egypt, along which those Ishmaelites 
must have passed. And the boy Joseph's feet had trod this ground! 
Looking down over the valley that lay before us we saw, beyond the 
patches of dull and red brown earth, and green fields dotted with olive 
and fig trees, the hill of the ancient city of Samaria. 

Omri, popular captain of the host, when the people of Israel turned 
against the seven-day king Zimri, and promoted Omri to the throne, 
chose well when "he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two 
talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the 
city which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, 
Samaria." There is nothing left today, so far as discovered, of 
Ahab's time. The repeated destructions of the city through the centur- 
ies would be enough to account for this. The colonnade of stone 
columns, standing some sixteen feet high, is known as the Street of 
Columns of the Herod's time. Another group of similar columns is 
supposed to be the remains of Herod's temple. In the spacious court- 
yard of the church of St. John the members of our party lounged, or 
stole a nap, in a bit of grateful shade. Around two wells in an outer 
court yard there was a busy stream of native women and girls, coming 
down a steep flight of steps from above to draw water, and climbing 



184 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



the steps again with their well filled jars. A horde of children crowded 
around any show of a camera, laughing good naturedly and showing 
their white teeth, or clamored for bakshish. Some of them were 
bright faced and attractive; many were pathetic with their disease 
stricken eyes, forewarning of the blindness that is still, as it was in 
Christ's day, so common in the east. As we rode away from the hill 
city that afternoon we passed women sitting on the ground washing 
clothes at a road side spring, and, in lieu of the destructive scrubbing 
board of western civilization, pounding the wet clolhes with rocks. 

Nablus of today, a town of considerable size, was the Shechem of 
Old Testament times. It was Shechem to which "all Israel were 
come," hoping to make Rehoboam king. It was Shechem to which 
Jeroboam turned when Rehoboam's folly lost him control of the north- 
ern tribes. It was Shechem which the Samaritans of foreign stock, 
shut out from any. share in rebuilding with the jealously exclusive Jews, 
the temple at Jerusalem, made their national and religious center. And 
it is in Shechem, or Nablus, that there lives today the little sole surviv- 
ing remnant of that Samaritan people, less than two hundred souls, 
proved now in their exclusiveness, direct in their descent perhaps the 
most unmixed stock from bible times existing anywhere in the world. 

There was still another sacred association with this place. Just be- 
yond Nablus was a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel 
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was 
there. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water; Jesus said 
unto her, "Give me to drink." 

We were coming to that spot, acknowledged by Jews, Christians 
and Mohammedans to be beyond dispute the parcel of ground contain- 
ing Jacob's well, where Jesus uttered the words of one of the most 
precious messages of his lifetime. We were traveling southeast from 
Samaria ; on our left, the north, was Ebal, the mount of cursing ; on our 
right Gerizim, the mount of blessing. Redroofed and sheltered in the 
valley between them nestled the city that was Shechem. Through nar- 
row streets and dark, damp alleys and corridors, closed overhead like 
subterranean passages, we were led on what must have been a walk of 



From Galilee to Jerusalem. 



187 



half a mile before we reached our goal, the Samaritan synagogue, where 
reposed, safeguarded, the farfamed Samaritan Pentateuch. One of a 
much later date than the other is sometimes shown to visitors who mis- 
takenly think they are seeing the older one. We passed through the 
courtyard of the synagogue into a small plaster walled room, and were 
introduced to the priests in charge. The high priest himself, Jacob, the 
son of Aaron, was absent from Nablus, having gone ahead of us to 
Jerusalem to attend by special invitation, the World's Sunday School 
Convention. 

Tenderly the two great twin scrolls were brought forth in their 
metal cases and silken coverings and unrolled before our eyes. The 
later copy is claimed to date back to the time of the Maccabees; the 
older one is alleged to be about 3,500 years old, the work of a grand- 
son of Aaron. It is on three rollers, each surmounted by a large gold- 
plated silver sphere of chased work, crowned by a smaller ball. A 
green silk covering protects it, embroidered in silver gold letters. On 
the metal case, which when shut encloses the parchment, are a great 
number of symbolical designs which Shukrey interpreted to us in a 
somewhat weary monotone. "The tabernacle of Moses, the cherubim, 
the rod that budded, names of priests serving in the holy of holies, the 
altar of incense, the table, the laver, the holy of holies, the trumpet, the 
altar of sacrifice, the knife for killing, the pillars above the temple," and 
so on I did not pretend to catch them all. We were even allowed to 
touch with our own fingers the venerable parchment, which, while no 
one supposes it goes back in age to patriarchal days, is yet old enough to 
be highly interesting. 

We have missed by only a few days the annual celebration of the 
killing of the passover lamb near the ruins of the old Samaritan tem- 
ple on the sacred mount, Gerizim, the only place in the world where 
this sacrifice and rite are observed. The Samaritans have considered 
Gerizim as the hill where Abraham offered up Isaac. After they were 
shut out from sharing in the temple worship at Jerusalem, Gerizim be- 
came the holy mount. 



188 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The grave diggers were at work in a roadside cemetery, and two 
lepers crouched by the entrance to the city as we rode out from Nablus 
at sunrise in the April morning. In a little white mosque into which 
we were shown a handsome Syrian was guarding "Joseph's tomb," a 
plaster mound covered with green drapery. On the road above us, 
winding by the foot of Gerizim, we saw a prisoner on foot under arrest 
with his guard, the fellow's hands bound together in front of him and 
fastened by a rope to his captor, who was mounted and jogging along 
ahead, picturesque in his brown cloak, white kerne and black headcord. 

Leaving "Joseph's tomb," we ride south over the plain of El 
Makhna, the place at which the boy Joseph is supposed to have first 
looked for his brethren when sent "out of the vale of Hebron" by his 
father. His brethren had gone to Shechem, therefore this plain just 
southeast of Nablus, or Shechem, would be the grazing place to which 
his steps would naturally turn. A few steps farther, and we had come 
to "the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph, and Ja- 
cob's well was there." We rested by the well for a while, descending 
the steps that led down into the chapel, and looking into the historical 
depths of the pit itself, 75 feet down. The water that is still there 
bubbles up from the same spring that supplied the Samaritan woman, 
from whose jar Jesus would have refreshed himself, even though Jews 
had no dealings with Samaritans. Generation after generation of 
Jews, Samaritans and Mohammedans have drunk of that water and 
have thirsted again, while a still greater host have taken of the water of 
which Christ told as he sat by that wellside, and the water that he has 
given has been in them a well of water, springing up into eternal life. 

Noontime brought us over the borders of Samaria into Judea, and 
to Shiloh, rich in memories of Old Testament events. Here Joshua 
addressed "the whole congregation of the children of Israel," assembled 
at Shiloh while the divisions of the land were being assigned to seven of 
the tribes. There was a "feast of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, 
which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that 
goeth up from Bethel to Shechem," the very way that we were trav- 



From Galilee to Jerusalem. 



189 



eling, but in an opposite direction. "Unto the house of Jehovah in 
Shiloh" Hannah brought the baby boy Samuel, her God-given joy, to 
dedicate him in gratitude to the Father. At Shiloh was uttered Han- 
nah's historical song of thanksgiving; and in the temple at Shiloh the 
boy Samuel ministered unto Jehovah before Eli the priest. 

It was a typical spring afternoon in Judea as we rode steadily south- 
ward, or a little to the west of south, on our journey toward Jerusalem. 
The sun was pouring its heat down in a sweltering prodigality ; men 
and boys walked along the road driving oxen and asses, and carrying 
long poles over their shoulders; fig trees and olive trees dotted the hill- 
sides with shadows in the slanting rays of the afternoon light. 

Here was a picture for us; a long procession of Russian pilgrims, 
on foot and on horse, tramping steadily past us in tireless march toward 
their cold home in the north from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 
Jerusalem, where, amid incense and flickering candles, they had knelt 
and prayed, and kissed the tomb where they believed Christ lay. You 
would have known they were Russian pilgrims as far as you could see 
them. The men were blonde and long haired and high booted, some 
with tall cylinder shaped hats. Many were far past youth or even mid- 
dle age, and walked with staff in hand. The women, too, were old. 
Spectacles helped their sight, and one, bareheaded, read from the bible 
on horseback as they went. You have seen pictures of Russian exiles 
on the way to Siberia, in a long line, leading on across the country? 
That was our picture that April afternoon in Judea. The sight was 
more striking because it was so utterly different from the human life in 
the midst of which we had been living for the last ten days. It was as 
though a new and unexpected slide had been flashed on the screen. 

It was the last morning before reaching Jerusalem. We had been 
getting out of our beds at 4 o'clock; today we had a welcome forty- 
five minutes more to sleep, and it was a quarter of 5 when we rose at 
Singil, half way in a southwesterly direction between Shiloh and Gil- 
gal. How far away Damascus seemed! And Caesarea Philippi, and 
Dan, and even Capernaum and the lake were far distant in the north. 



190 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



We had traveled days since leaving them, riding steadily southward on 
our tireless horses. It seemed weeks to some of us, so crowded with 
the events and memories of centuries had those days been. And now 
we were down in Judea, and before another sunset we should stand 
within the gates of Jerusalem. 

We realized, too, as we never had before, what it meant to Jesus 
and the disciples to go from Jerusalem up into Galilee, or for Paul to 
set out from Jerusalem to Damascus. It had been a hard, tedious trip 
for us, with all the comforts and conveniences of a well organized camp. 
What must it have been to the travelers of twenty centuries ago! 
There is a little village and a well at Bethel, which is on a hill, and the 
ruins of a Crusaders' church stand there. On a hill a quarter of a 
mile away are the ruins of a socalled "castle of Abraham," which 
some consider the site of the old Bethel. The ancient road from Jericho 
to Bethel, which Joshua and his men followed in their attacks on Ai, 
after taking Jericho, was just beyond; and beyond that, to the east, rose 
the hill Ai. Standing together there in the open air, under the brilliant 
blue sky and bright sunshine of this place, which was surely "none other 
than the house of God," we raised the old hymn, "Nearer, My God, to 
Thee" — 

There let my way appear, 

Steps unto heaven; 
All that thou sendest me 
"* In mercy given; 

Angels to beckon me 

Nearer, my God, to thee, 

Nearer to thee! 

Dr. Benham led us in a prayer of thanksgiving that we of today 
could see more than Jacob saw of old; that to us as to Nathaniel, it 
had been granted to see "the heaven opened and the angels of God as- 
cending and descending upon the sons of men." 

Passing Beeroth, a stony height, one of the cities of Benjamin, we 
came to the modern town, Ramallah. The Friends' mission, under Dr. 
Edward Kelsey is a marvel of attractive cleanliness and godliness. The 
children of another mission school were assembling for a photograph on 
the steps of their school house, when we heard laughter and joyful 



From Galilee to Jerusalem. 191 

noises, and saw a procession coming toward us up the street. It was a 
procession led by the children, on the way to meet and greet "the 
bridegroom,'* who had gone up to Jerusalem two or three days before 
to purchase his wedding garments, and who was expected to return that 
day. On the coming Sunday the marriage was to take place. 

From the roof of the Hishmeh hotel we could see, to the east, the 
hill where tradition says Abram and Lot made their choice of the land: 
"So Lot chose him all the plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. 

Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, Lot dwelt in the cities 

of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom." 

South of us on a hill a mosque and minaret marked the traditional 
grave of Samuel, whose spirit came back to earth, fifty miles north, up 
at Endor. "And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves to- 
gether and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah." 

Five miles away lay the city of Zion! We could not see her yet, 
but we could feel her presence as we rode steadily south from Ramallah 
down through Judea, on that last afternoon of our long pilgrimage. 
On the great highway leading up to Jerusalem from Damascus we 
found more travel than we had seen in all the rest of Palestine together. 
Travelers from the East and from the West were pushing on toward 
the same goal; some, like ourselves, to set foot for the first time within 
the city's walls, others coming and going on regular visits of business, 
pleasure or religion, as Joseph and Mary "went every year to Jerusalem 
at the feast of the passover." 

The various camping parties conducted by Clark and by Cook were 
getting in, moving slowly along the broad white road, firm and well 
kept, bounded by green fields and gently rising hills, and ending at the 
city that now stretches out impressively before us. Following the cus- 
tom of the dragomans, Shukrey asked all the ladies of our party, eight of 
them, to bring their horses to the front of our cavalcade, while the men 
followed at a respectful distance. It is a pretty custom, that of the 
women leading the way as we approach our journey's end, and be- 
speaks the influence of the Christian civilization of the west more than 
the woman-ignoring practices of the East. That hill in the distance, to 



192 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

the south, is Mizpah, "the watch tower." On our left, the southeast, is 

"Gibeah of Saul," whither the erring first king 5; t>f Israel retired after 

learning from Samuel that "to obey is better than sacrifice," and that 
his failure to obey had cost him, his throne. Still -further south, near 

Mount Scopus, is Nob, the city where Abimelech, the priest, gave to 

David and hisD young, men holy, bread, "the showbread that was taken 

from before Jehovah." 

At a pool by the roadside near the city .a man sat bathing his weary 
feet in the refreshing coolness of the living water that was there. Wash- 
ing the feet means much to one of the East who travels miles on foot, 
wearing only an open sandal or a light low shoe. It is the first thing to 
be thought of at the end of a journey or at the close of a day. This 
glimpse of the roadside foot washing just outside the city of David was 
only another proof of the unchanging East, another gleam of light from 
the Fifth Gospel. 

Into an olive grove a little northwest of the Damascus gate, and 
not far from the grotto of Jeremiah and the Place of a Skull, near 
which the great convention tent was pitched, we turned our horses' 
heads, and found ourselves in camp for the last time — not to strike our 
tents again for five days, when we should turn our faces to the coast and 
the West beyond. For we had grown so fond of our cosy tents with 
their comfortable cotbeds, and the health-giving nights in the open air, 
that we forty of the "Damascus Rough Riders" had telegraphed ahead 
to Mr. Herbert Clark, while we were up in Galilee, asking that we 
be permitted to live in our tents at Jerusalem instead of giving them up 
for the uncertain comforts of the Jerusalem hotels. We were grateful 
that our request could be granted, and our only sorrow that day was 
that we must say goodbye to our faithful horses. One by one they 
were unsaddled and led away, while cameras were busy catching last 
photographs of our four-footed friends. 



Haifa and Plain of Esdraelon. 



193 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Haifa and Plain of Esdraelon. 

A company of more than two hundred were to proceed on horse- 
back through Galilee and Samaria to Jerusalem. Three other parties, 
numbering one hundred and fifty each, went by carriage from Haifa to 
Nazareth, to Tiberias, or sea of Galilee, returning to the steamer at 
Haifa. 

The morning was beautiful ; everyone was happy and filled with ex- 
pectation. We were about to enter the land of Canaan, the possession 
of the son of Ham, and to pass through the provinces of Galilee and 
Samaria. Our ship lay in the beautiful bay of Acre. 

This bay has a distinct place in ancient history, comparatively un- 
familiar to us because bible history deals so little with the sea. In the 
time of the crusaders this harbor and the fortress toward its northern 
end became famous. It was also the last home of the Knights of St. 
John before they left Palestine. The old Christian fortifications 
still stand, and the castle is used as a prison by the sultan. We were to 
make the landing in small boats as before. The waters of the bay 
were somewhat confined, the waves rose and fell in succession, and I 
experienced the most severe attack of seasickness since the voyage began, 
but was glad that it was not of long duration. Our baggage was on 
the pier awaiting ownership. I made claim to my suitcase, which 
seemed exceedingly heavy to carry after the severe illness I had experi- 
enced. Here I formed new and pleasant acquaintances in my carriage 
companions, and the trip to Nazareth was a long but pleasant one. 

At Haifa we waited a short time for the preparation of the trip, in 
the selection of carriages and horses, and then the procession passed out 

Chapters XIII. and XIV. are reprinted by permission from "A Pil- 
grimage to Jerusalem," by Charles Gallaudet Trumbull. 

14 



194 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



through the narrow streets. We met women carrying pans of milk on 
their heads in apparent ease and steadiness. Soon we came up with the 
Camp Convent party, who were being initiated to new experiences with 
the horses they had chosen, and who looked somewhat grotesque in 
hats and with gay kernes and other articles of oriental equipment donned 
for the trip. 

For several miles our route lay alongside the uncompleted railroad. 
This road has ties and rails for several miles and is graded much farther, 
but the work has come to an abrupt end by reason of the hostilities of 
the sultan. We cross the Kishon on a bridge which had been con- 
structed for the railway. We observed that "the camels were coming" 
in great numbers, as we meet or pass long caravans on our journey, 
hitched one behind another and preceded by a donkey, that bear a 
grotesque resemblance to a train of cars, but move much more slowly. 
Some one has humorously named them "the Galilee lightning express." 
We hope that ere long railroads in Palestine will be so extensive as to 
make the long journey of these beasts of burden superfluous. r 

We began our journey of twenty-two miles in carriages with four 
passengers and luggage in each. Our conductor informed us that we 
had the best dragoman, which pleasing bit of information he impartially 
circulated to all. 

Crossing the Kishon, one of the few rivers of Palestine, which at 
this season of year is nearly dry, we skirted Mount Carmel, where 
Elijah fought his terrible battle for purity of worship and forced upon 
the people of Israel their choice between the historical worship of the 
God of Israel and the newly imported idolatry from Tyre. Here the 
Maccabees fought their splendid battles for freedom of worship; here 
the crusaders met their final repulse; and here Napoleon drew up his 
legions against the might and pride of the Turk, where Sisera's hosts 
met their overwhelming defeat. We skirted the plain of Esdraelon 
with its scores of historic battlefields, perhaps the bloodiest field on earth, 
where Barak and Gideon won their superb victories, and at Megiddo 
King Josiah met defeat and death; and still to the right were Gilboa, 
where Saul and Jonathan died, and Tabor, on whose rounded summit 



Haifa and Plain of Esdraelon. 195 

many believe the transfiguration to have occurred. To the left, as we 
rode on, we had fitful views of snowy Mount Hermon. The air was 
fresh and clear, and for a time we were glad of our steamer rugs. 

The day was perfect as that when the green earth first appeared to 
man in Eden. We were now in the land of the fig and the olive; and 
except for these, few trees appeared. And the absence of shade is 
much felt. There are few large trees. The olive tree with its narrow 
leaves is not a good shade tree. The fig is some better, but it is not 
very plentiful. No trees are allowed to exist as mere shade trees. 
Trees are taxed, and if any does not bear fruit, its owner cannot 
afford to let it stand. The demand for fuel is so great that roadside 
bushes are grubbed up by the roots and carried off in huge bundles 
on the heads of women. Fuel was scarce here probably in bible times, 
as we read of the woman of Zarephath gathering but two sticks to 
prepare her scanty meal, of which Elijah asked for a portion. 

We were on the great highway which for uncounted centuries has 
been the thoroughfare from Damascus to the sea. Under the oaks of 
Harosheth we ate our lunch of sandwiches, eggs and oranges. The 
oak trees are there in something approaching abundance. Standing 
apart they cover considerable area. Beneath are grass and flowers, and 
together it had the appearance of a well kept park. We were very 
grateful to the shade trees at lunch time, but we saw few oak trees else- 
where in Palestine. When about to leave this shady bower, a young 
man of 1 8 or 20, who was driver of one of the carraiges, was severely 
whipped by the team manager, who came upon him fiercely and violent- 
ly as he was eating his lunch. We had not noticed that he did any 
wrong, and felt resentful; but the young man was probably accustomed 
to such treatment, for he offered no remonstrance, and in the meantime 
made sure of his lunch. We were informed that these drivers hold the 
place of slaves, as do many others, and that they were often flogged 
even for trivial offenses. Tourists sometimes offered them money to 
pass other carriages, which they will do even though they are punished 
for it. 



196 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



We saw no part of Palestine more beautiful than the plain of 
Esdraelon. The beauty of the place charmed us beyond expression. 
Attempting to describe it, we fail. Passing along the north edge we 
looked over an immense level tract, strips of green fields, probably wheat 
or barley. The ground was being prepared in other parts for a later 
crop. Several yoke of oxen to one plow was a common sight. Nearly 
3,000 years ago in the upper valley of the Jordan Elijah found Elisha, 
the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before 
him, and he with the twelfth, and Elijah passed by him, and cast his 
mantle upon him and anointed him prophet in his room. 

In all these years the way of tilling the soil has changed but little 
and such scenes are yet to be seen. Sometimes an ox and an ass precede 
the ancient wooden plow, but sometimes a camel. After being culti- 
vated all these years the ground is yet full of small stones, and it is a 
surprise that anything grows. Wild flowers are abundant. They do not 
grow rank and tall, but flower within a few inches of the ground. The 
poppy anemone is believed to have been "the lily of the field," of which 
Christ spoke. It resembles our common poppy much, but grows in 
Palestine more perfect and abundant without cultivation. There are 
many pink and white daisies, chrysanthemums and other flowers. All 
Galilee is an immense flower garden. Many purchase seed of these 
flowers, which grow well in the soil of our country. Many herds of 
cattle and flocks of sheep feed on the hillsides. Except the herds 
and shepherds and those who tilled the soil, there were few other per- 
sons to be seen. The people live in villages, which are a little distance 
apart. This once densely populated plain of Jezreel or Esdraelon is 
yet beautiful to view, but seems lonely and quiet, as if it held a secret 
never to be disclosed. 



Xazareth. 



197 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Nazareth. 

Fig and olive orchards were more plentiful as we neared Nazareth, 
also villages of small mud dwellings beautifully situated on high, level, 
grassy tracts surrounded by orchards, and with hills in the distance. 
The people seemed wretchedly destitute, and almost every place the 
whole village came out to meet us, asking for bakshish. 

As we rounded a hill from the high plain the village of Nazareth 
on an opposite slope and in the valley between came upon us suddenly. 
The village is not reached at once, but descending a long hill we re- 
turned to it on the opposite side of a ravine. Before us, upon an 
elevation, but encircled by hills, the town nestled among green fields 
and gray rocky slopes. 

It is not the city of little repute that it was m the days of Christ, 
but contains more people and better buildings, and is better kept than 
most Syrian villages, with sidewalks, street lamps and some effort at 
cleanliness. Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, nor by 
Josephus, nor yet in the Talmud, and the early disciples wondered that 
any good thing could come from there. It was not so secluded, how- 
ever, as is commonly supposed. It was only a little off the great roads 
which ran from north to south across Galilee to Jerusalem and Egypt, 
and was near to that which connected the ancient city of Damascus 
with the coast. Located as it is in a basin among the hills, and on a 
slope not very high, it has within easy reach hilltops that afford some 
of the finest views in Palestine. As we entered the village we saw 
women carrying earthen jars of water on their heads, and a woman 
holding out the hand of a child she held in her arms begging for bak- 
shish, as did many others. 



398 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

When the carriages stopped near the convent we were surrounded 
by those who insisted on taking our baggage out of the carriage and 
out of our hands. And when they had succeeded thus far would quar- 
rel and fight among themselves as to which would carry it — the object 
being not so much to be of service as to which would receive the recom- 
pense. And the great court was crowded with anxious pilgrims, who 
wondered if they and their baggage would ever again meet. 

We ascended stone steps from without, and found comfortable 
lodgings in a monastery kept by Franciscan monks. Many rooms were 
furnished to accommodate four persons. The ceilings were high and 
the walls white ; each iron bed was enclosed by curtains of snowy white 
netting. The spacious dining rooms and also the great halls were set 
with long tables, where we partook of our first oriental meal of soup, 
bread, meat, vegetables, pudding and oranges. The food was both 
plenteous and wholesome. Great bottles of wine stood on the tables, but 
remained untouched by the delegates, which fact probably surprised the 
waiters. There are always men in the orient who usually wear the red 
fez at service. 

After lunch a guide showed us to the Church of the Annunciation, 
which was built in its present form in 1 730. Descending to a vestibule 
known as the Angels' Chapel, and passing between two altars, the one to 
St. Joachim and the other to the angel Gabriel, we enter the chapel of 
the Annunciation, whose altar bears the Latin words, ''Hie verbum caro 
factum" — "Here the word was made flesh." Here are two columns, 
one of them in the floor marking the place where the angel stood, and 
the other suspended from the ceiling, and said to be miraculously sup- 
ported, showing the spot where Mary received the message. 

We wonder at these things which seem so spurious, but this is but 
the beginning of absurdities that we shall behold in Palestine. Adjoin- 
ing this church there is an underground chapel of St. Joseph, which is 
merely a cave in the limestone rock, said to be the dwelling place of Jo- 
seph and Mary. Their home may have been there or in a similar one. 
Many people of Palestine in the present time live in caves and grottoes 
and very humble abodes. When viewing this lowly place a lady asked : 



Nazareth. 



201 



"Was it not a pity that our Lord and Saviour came to earth to live in a 
land and home like this?" We were then shown the traditional car- 
penter's shop of Joseph. The present structure, having been built in 
1858 and 1859, is a church, said to cover the original shop, and is 
in the hands of the Franciscan monks, who take pleasure in strangers 
curious for events, and who will upturn a hinged board and show you 
the stone foundation. Visitors frequently explore this and other shops 
in Nazareth for ancient carpenter's tools (which to me are valueless) as 
being the original ones used in the time of Christ. But as customs 
and modes change little in Palestine the same kind of tools used centu- 
ries ago may yet be in use, and one finds pleasure in visiting the shops of 
this kind, for Christ also worked here with his hands in this manner, and 
was a man among men in all ways. As articles of furniture are so mea- 
ger, and stone is so much made use of in the construction of buildings, it 
would be supposed that employment but for few would be given in for- 
mer times as well as at the present time. Though at the present the man- 
ufacture of souvenirs of olive wood is a growing industry. 

We are told that a carpenter's work is largely in the manufacture 
of agricultural inmplements, and that he is almost invariably a man of 
intelligence, accustomed to judge when articles were brought to him for 
repair, in what manner they have been injured, and able to tell a farmer 
through what fault he has broken his plow or other implement; and that 
the carpenter, as he has implements for measuring, and is a man accus- 
tomed to calculating dimensions, is frequently appealed to to settle dis- 
putes concerning boundary lines and to survey small tracts of land, and 
that he is likely to be a man to whom people turn in emergencies that call 
for experience and sound judgment; and that his shop is a place not so 
much for idling as where people gather, conversing on themes of current 
interest and questions whose importance rather transcends in dignity the 
ordinary gossip of the village. Growing up in an atmosphere of whole- 
some discussion and stimulating conversation on all matters of current 
interest, his services being in constant requisition, the carpenter was quite 
likely to be a man of property and respectability. Such probably were 
the conditions of Jesus as he worked in the carpenter shop at Nazareth. 



202 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



In shops and from street venders, knives with curved blades and horn 
handles can be purchased. They are sharp and seem to be made of 
good steel and are sold at a very low price. The one I purchased was 
the only article found missing after my baggage had been inspected by 
the custom house officials in New York. For this small offense I 
heartily hope no great harm will befall the possessor of this rude sharp 
knife, and that his sin will not find him out. Scissors are also sold upon 
the streets. They are of a crude pattern, characteristic of the place, 
and while the finish is rough the blades are hollow hammered and seem 
to be serviceable. 

Above the only spring in Nazareth a church is built, and close by 
the water breaks forth in a public fountain in the forks of the road, and 
is called the Fountain of the Virgin, from the assumption that Mary car- 
ried water from this spring, which is not at all improbable. She may 
have done so, for there is no other fountain in Nazareth, and the whole 
village depends upon it for water to this day. Ever since Nazareth 
began to be a village this fountain must have been the daily source of 
supply for all its families, and is the one incontestable place in Nazareth. 
To and from the fountain is a constant procession of people bringing 
water, and this work falls especially upon the young women who carry 
water from it in stone jars placed upon their heads. When empty, the 
jars are carried upon their sides; when full, they are not quite erect, but 
tilt at a slight angle and are borne with the utmost composure and un- 
consciousness. There were several young women at the fountain who 
offered to give us a drink from the flowing stream, and also requested us 
to lift jars filled with water, which we found heavy in our hands, but 
which they carry easily on their heads. Filled with water they are said 
to weigh fifty pounds. 

It is said that the women of Nazareth are the most handsome in 
Palestine, and some write of the Madonna-like beauty of the Nazareth 
girl, but the village beauties were away from home when we were there. 
We saw few that were even good looking. 

The village was built on the south side of a high hill, which we as- 
cend, and from its summit view the surrounding country thirty miles in 



Nazareth. 



203 



the distance. From the Sea of Galilee to the Great Sea, where the sun 
sets, and from the great white summit of Mount Hermon in the distance, 
across the plain of Esdraelon, the outline of the hills of Samaria, with 
the villages of Endor, Nain and others dotting the hillsides, could be 
seen. 

The boy Jesus must often have looked upon these scenes from the 
top of the hill, which was an easy climb from Joseph's shop, and his 
soul must have been stirred with their natural beauty and their historic 
interest. Here he must often have sat and meditated and wondered and 
aspired. It is written that he increased in wisdom and stature and in fa- 
vor with God and man. We are accustomed to think of the influence 
of the mountains in developing strong characters, and the surroundings 
of Nazareth afforded a ruggedness combined with fertility that would 
combine strength and gentleness. Surely here was a view to thrill his 
growing soul. Nazareth was a good place for Jesus to spend his boy- 
hood. It was secluded, yet in the midst of sights and experiences of 
the most thrilling interest. 

We descend the hill another way from which we came, and stop at 
the Protestant orphanage. We ascend flights of wide steps to a fine 
large building overlooking the city. Here is an excellent school and 
orphanage maintained by the Episcopal Church Missionary Society, 
where girls are taught in both English and Arabic, and other useful 
knowledge. It was the evening meal hour, and the seventy girls in dark 
dresses and white aprons were at the table in a long hall. The teachers 
showed us about the place. Everything was clean and orderly. After- 
wards the children sang in English the following, entitled "Chil- 
dren of Nazareth": 

We are little Nazareth children, 

And our Father placed our home 

'Mid the olive trees and vineyards 
Where, as Child, He used to roam. 

For the Lord, who loves the children, 

And was glad to hear their praise, 
Cares that Nazareth children know Him, 

Do His will and choose His ways. 



204 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Cares that they should keep in memory 

All that sacred life spent here; 
Try in heart to walk beside Him, 

Safe and happy in His fear. 

And we know that He is coming, 

Every knee to Him shall bow — 
And the joyous shouts to greet Him 

Shall begin in Nazareth now. 

Jesus Saviour, dwell within us, 

Make a temple of each heart, 
Pure and loving, true and holy, 

For Thy service set apart. 

And then they sang another in Arabic, the words of which we did 
not understand. We purchased a few bits of lace made by the girls, 
and other mementoes, and when about to depart were given a leaflet tell- 
ing of the origin and maintenance of the school and orphanage. 

We were among the last to return, and on our homeward course 
saw into the interior of some homes. These were small, often only one 
room, without windows and with but little furniture. The people repose 
on rugs on the ground or stone floor, and often the home is shared with 
goats and other animals. One seldom finds books or pictures. The 
common food consists of large flat cakes of bread. The scarcity of 
water is a hindrance to cleanliness, and through ignorance and neglect 
many become blind. This is the general condition throughout Pales- 
tine. But the result of this Episcopal school is producing a telling effect 
on the conditions of Nazareth. 

In the evening a friend and I, accompanied by a guide, with lan- 
tern, went out to the Nazareth threshing field where many of our friends 
were encamped ; falling over tent ropes and groping about in the dark- 
ness, we could find no one of whom we were in search, but gained some 
knowledge of camp life. The tents were decorated within in rich col- 
ors of oriental patterns, and carpeted with rugs and supplied with light 
iron cotbeds and small wooden washstands, and looked comfortable and 
cozy. We were also in the large tent dining room, where we purchased 
some postals and other mementos. The air was cold and damp, and 
we were glad to return to our room at the convent, which was lighted 
by a candle and where, after the long ride and time busily spent in 
sightseeing, we soon found sweet repose and rest. 



Nazareth. 



205 



The next morning we were awakened by the gentle patter of rain 
against our window, which, however, continued but for a short time, but 
left the morning damp and cloudy. It was the nearest approach to rain 
that we experienced in Palestine. The morning was spent in sight- 
seeing as each desired. The streets were narrow and some exceedingly 
filthy. We were shown the church, or synagogue, said to be the same, 
or on the same site, in which Christ preached, after which his fellow 
townsmen and friends, whom he wished to serve and save, rose up 
against him in hatred and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon 
their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. They, 
like others who sought his life, whom he prayed the father to forgive, 
knew not what they did. This church is probably not as genuine as the 
hill near Nazareth called the Place of Precipitation. 

We visited the orphanage a second time, and several ladies of the 
party spoke a few encouraging words to the girls and teachers. One of 
our party promised to furnish means for one girl's support, to whom 
when she was presented, he gave a kiss, which caused her to blush pro- 
fusely and her companions to laugh. Photographs and picture postals 
are abundant, and visitors may buy also some genuine antiques here. I 
purchased a lamp said to be one. There are specimens of early glass ; 
one may buy little terra cotta water jars and miniature handmills, and in 
the village souvenirs are manufactured in olive wood, and bits of fine 
lace are made by the women. 

Nazareth is today a Christian city of about 1 0,000 inhabitants, 
three-fourths of whom are worshipers of the true God. In this estimate 
are included the members of the Greek and Latin churches and Moham- 
medans. There is not a Jew in Nazareth today, and the question often 
arises why and where are they? 

Partaking of an early lunch, we entered our carriages for Tiberias, 
or the Sea of Galilee, eighteen miles distant. 



Galilee. 



207 



CHAPTER XV. 
Cana and Galilee. 

We had crossed a high and rocky hill and come down into the val- 
ley past the spring where the Franks gained their victory over the Mos- 
lems, Mayl, 1187. Across to the left the ancient village of Gath- 
hepher, where lived Jonah, can be seen some twelve miles distant. The 
approach to Cana is interesting. It leads through olive orchards and 
gardens surrounded with cactus hedges. From the bleak hill over which 
we had come the descent to this fertile valley was pleasing. Cana is 
on high ground, though not upon a hill, and the sight is interesting, be- 
ing at once fertile and conspicuous. 

The village, however, is uninviting. Cana is noted as the scene 
of Christ's first miracle, and it is pleasant to remember that, unlike most 
of his mighty works, it was called forth by no great exigency of sorrow 
or distress. When once his public work had begun the problem of hu- 
man sin pressed heavily upon him. Hunger and disease were every- 
where present, but his first miracle had for its immediate object the in- 
creasing of human joy. 

Many had acquaintances and probably relatives in Cana, and it 
must have been a satisfaction to the first disciples of Jesus, returning 
with him from the Jordan just after he had emerged from the forty 
days in the wilderness, to find at once that they had mutual acquaint- 
ances in the family where the wedding occurred. The first call of Je- 
sus for disciples had brought him five of them, who, like himself, were 
away from home in a season when fishing was slack, forming part of the 
crowd that attended the preaching of John at the fords of the Jordan. 
The six came together into Galilee and were guests at the wedding, where 
Mary seems to have occupied some special relation of intimacy, through 
kinship or acquaintance, so that the servants recognized her authority. 



208 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Jesus had been gone from home a good while — forty days in the wilder- 
ness — and we know not how much longer. It is entirely possible that 
the shortage of provisions for the wedding was occasioned by the un- 
expected coming of himself and five companions. Be that as it may, 
it is a pleasant thought that he counted a mere embarrassment on the 
part of his host and hostess a thing worthy of his consideration, and of 
the use of his God given power. It is a reminder that the very best 
that God has is for the joy of our common life. 

Cana was the home of Nathaniel, and of course his house is pointed 
out. No biblical reference that can be localized stands in need of a 
place claiming to have been its site. It was here that the nobleman 
from Capernaum came, beseeching Jesus to go down and heal his son. 

Near the village we stop at a spring, and not far distant is a church 
in which is shown a stone water jar, said to have been used at the mar- 
riage feast when the water was made wine. 

The scenery between Nazareth and Tiberias is less interesting at the 
outset than beyond Canaan, but even from the first it was most attractive. 
Wild flowers abound and display themselves in great abundance, the 
wheat fields are waving in their springtime green, and the landscape, 
though lacking trees, has many elements of beauty. The picturesque- 
ness of the country increases as one leaves Cana and draws nearer the 
lake, and the country grows rougher till we reach the Mount of Beati- 
tudes. We stop at a somewhat natural reservoir where cattle come down 
to drink and the teamsters give the horses water. Our talkative auburn 
haired dragoman, who had been riding with the driver, dismounts, and 
placing one foot on the carriage step, confidentially informs us in his 
conversation that he is soon to be married, and if this fact be true there 
will probably be another marriage ere long in Cana. 

As we approach Tiberias we meet caravans of camels and gro- 
tesquely attired orientals and fiercely armed Bedouins. We also met 
a wedding procession, several men afoot apparently leading the way; 
then followed highly decorated camels, one of which carried a miniature 
house, and perhaps within was the groom and maybe the bride. By 
the camel's side walked an Ethopian as black as ink, in a white turban, 



Galilee. 



209 



and staff in hand. Strange music filled the air; we had beheld an 
oriental marriage procession, probably of some person of high degree of 
rank or wealth. 

Kuren Hattin, which rises 1,135 feet above the sea, is a low, 
double topped mountain, crowning an elevated plateau. Tradition 
gives this as the scene of the "Sermon on the Mount," and this may well 
be correct. It lay a short distance to the left of the road we traveled. 
Several of the party ascended to its top and read there the fifth chapter 
of the gospel according to St. Matthew. On the plain just underneath 
this hill Saladin defeated the Franks on the 3d and 4th of July, 1 187, 
and thereby brought to an end the power of the Latin or Christian king- 
dom in Palestine. It has been the field of several battle scenes. 

The country, which has grown steadily more beautiful, needs now 
but one added feature to complete it, and of this we have long been 
thinking, and for its first sight eagerly watching. At length we round 
the crest of the hill and come in sight of the lake whose vision puts to 
flight all historic reflections save those associated with itself and its imme- 
diate shores. Still a rather wide detour is necessary to make the descent, 
otherwise the road would be too steep, and it is fully an hour after we 
catch sight of the lake before we arrive at Tiberias. Other tourists were 
at Tiberias besides our party. I shared a room with six beds at the con- 
vent, and was fortunate that night in the crowded city to find a sleeping 
place. Besides other things, the city is famous for fleas, which fact no 
one will dispute who stays there over night. : ' 

At a late hour we were called to dinner, and were honored by the 
presence of the governor, who sat at one end of the dining room with 
his associates. We had meats, and fish from the Tiberias, and vege- 
tables, all highly flavored with olive oil, and oranges for dessert. Oriental 
breakfasts are very light, usually bread and butter, eggs and coffee. 
Coffee and eggs I do not eat, and I could not eat the hard, black bread, 
and the strong goat milk and butter was very unpalatable. The cooking 
here and at Jericho was the most objectionable that was offered us. It 
was more oriental the farther from the sea coast we went. Most of the 
cooking in Palestine is done in the open air, and with all possible saving 



15 



210 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



of fuel. Many houses have no fireplace. In the most severe weather a 
little fire is built, and the smoke finds its way out through a hole in the 
roof. The people eat most of their food cold. 

The climate of Tiberias is beautiful in the spring, but is said to be 
hot in summer, and the town is far from being healthy to live in. It 
lies 682 feet below the Mediterranean, and the surrounding hills, 1 ,000 
feet in height, shut Out the invigorating breezes. On the south side of 
the city lie the famous hot baths for which the city was so noted in ancient 
times. The temperature of the water is about 1 44 degrees Fahrenheit. 
It is very salt and bitter, with a smell of sulphur, and is said to be good 
for rheumatism and other ills. The baths were the famous natural 
feature of the place, and by reason of them in time even the Jews found 
residences there. They came at length to possess thirteen synagogues 
there, and to count the place one of the four sacred cities. 

Tiberias is now a town of about 4,000 inhabitants, of whom two- 
thirds are Jews, 1 ,200 are Moslems, and about 200 are Christians. 
It lies close to the lake and occupies a narrow rim of its shore, though 
the plain would permit the building of a considerable city toward the 
hills. On the landward side there is a wall with towers. The modern 
wall, which dates from the middle of the last century, was seriously 
injured in the great earthquake of July 1, 1837. Tiberias was built 
between 20 and 27 A. D. It was begun in our Lord's early manhood 
and finished as he was ending his public ministry. It was in its glory 

when Jesus dwelt in Capernaum, a few miles north. It was built by 
Herod Antipas, whom our Lord called the "Fox." It was he whom the 

heroic John rebuked, and by him was beheaded. Herod suffered some 
remorse over this bloody deed, and when he heard of Jesus, wondered 
if he was not John the Baptist risen from the dead. He had no little 
curiosity concerning Jesus, and finally mejt him on the morning of. his 
crucifixion. Pilate, who had been at enmky with Herod, took advan- 
tage of the latter's presence in Jerusalem, by sending Jesus to him under 
pretense of respect for Herod's jurisdiction over a resident of his own 
tetrarchy. Thus he conciliated Herod, who appreciated the compliment, 



Galilee. 



211 



but did not succeed as he had hoped in the evasion of the responsibility 
for the death of Christ. 

It is not known that our Lord ever visited Tiberias. There was a 
strong prejudice against it in his day because a cemetery had been ex- 
humed to make room for it. In Herod's day the city wall was three 
miles long and was strengthened by a castle. It was this castle that 
preserved Tiberias. It was the one defensible place on the shore of the 
lake, and caused the city to be preserved when Capernaum and Beth- 
saida and Chorazin were destroyed. Josephus, when in command in 
Galilee, fortified Tiberias, but the town surrendered to Vespasian, who 
came against it with three legions of his troops. At the same time Kerak, 
otherwise known as Tarichea, an important town on the lakeside farther 
to the south, was taken in a desperate fight. At this time the little lake 
actually witnessed a naval battle, in which the Jews were defeated with 
great mortality. Six thousand five hundred Jews fell in this battle of 
Kerak, and 1 ,200 more, who were captured, were put to death by the 
Romans at Tiberias. 

After the destruction of Jerusalem, Tiberias became the center of 
Jewish scholarship, and many famous scribes and doctors are buried in 
the city. Here, 200 years after Christ, the Mishna was completed, and 
1 00 years later the Jerusalem Talmud. From these men we have the so 
called Masoretic text of scripture, which was finally fixed under the in- 
fluence of Rabbi Aaron Ben and Moses ben Asher. This school also 
passed upon some intricate questions of the old Hebrew canon, as the 
canonicity of Esther and the Songs of Solomon. Not only do we get 
our modern Hebrew text from Tiberias, but indirectly we have our Latin 
translations from this city also; for it was a student of Tiberias from 
whom St. Jerome learned Hebrew and so translated the Old Testament 
into the Vulgate. Christianity, which early obtained a foothold here, 
found much opposition in the early heathenism and the later Judaism 
of the city, but flourished notwithstanding. By the fifteenth century 
there were Christian bishops in Tiberias. The Arabs conquered the 
town in 637, but the bishopric was re-established by the Crusaders, but 
made subordinate to that of Nazareth. 



212 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



At Tiberias is a Scotch Presbyterian mission with three good build- 
ings, one of which is a hospital. The work is a good one and much 
required, for the multitude of diseased, hungry and in need, are still 
there, and the problem of helping them presses one sorely. 

The sea of Galilee is thirteen miles long and about six in 
average width. Its greatest breadth is eight miles. Its shape has been 
compared to that of a harp, with the northern end the larger, and the 
bulge to the west. Its northern end is more open to the wind, while the 
southern end is more confined by hills that define the Jordan gorge. The 
industries of the sea of Galilee in Christ's day were agriculture and fruit 
growing, dyeing and tanning, fishing and boat building. The lake was 
full of fish, and the fishing business, which was very profitable, was mostly 
pursued at the north end of the lake. The principal fish is a kind of 
mullet, and still abounds in the late, and are wholesome and good to eat. 

The next morning, by the seaside, we gathered shells as we waited 
for boats to convey us to Tellhum, a few miles north of Tiberias. The 
boats were of the small fishing type, with both sail and oars, ready for 
breeze or calm, probably such as were used by those fishers of old who 
left their nets by these waters to become fishers of men. Six or eight 
passengers besides the boatmen were all that each boat could carry. 
In our boat were five passengers, three oarsmen and a little girl 7 years 
old, whose father was one of the oarsmen. She had been at the mission 
school in Tiberias and could speak a few words of English. She sang 
for us in sweet, clear voice the words of the Lord's prayer. We were 
surprised in a short time after we were out that she became seasick, but 
the sun shone down upon us warm and bright, and she wore no covering 
over her head, c 

- 1 looked at our swarthy boatmen, as they plied their oars, and tried 
to think of them as Peter, James and John, of the New Testament. All 
the memories and influences of your lifetime knowledge of Jesus Christ 
sweep over you as you look upon the sea of . Galilee. You remember 
the words of Christ on these waters to his disciples, "It is I, be not 
afraid. Peace, be still!" Sometimes violent storms cause the waters 



Galilee. 



215 



to be tempestuous, but at this time they were calm and placid. The 
sails were not in use, but the oaring seemed laborious. 

In about an hour and a half we reached Tell Hum. Since the sixth 
century Christian tradition has made this the site of Capernaum, and 
some modern authorities still consider it so. It is on the shores of the 
lake, about two miles west of where the Jordan enters. Tell Hum is 
the only place on the lake where there is an attempt to identify ruins 
associated with Christ's ministry. The remains of an old synagogue, if 
it be such, is believed by many to have been the one mentioned in Luke 
vii:5, are buried, but one may see a few large carved stones. There 
are a few humble dwellings and a convent kept by Franciscan monks. 

Long before I knew of this visit to Palestine, I thought of how I 
would like to be by the sea of Galilee and sing the song, "Oh Galilee, 
blue Galilee, where Jesus loved so much to be" ; and as we were about 
to leave, my wish was granted. Someone started these words and we 
all joined in the song. In the distance to the northeast could be seen 
where Bethsaida Julius stood, and where, perhaps, the 5,000 were fed. 
Directly across the lake, or a little to the south, rose, sheer out of the 
waters, the precipitous cliffs of "the country of the Gergesenes, which 
was over against Galilee," where "the demons came out from the man, 
and entered into the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep hill into 
the lake and were drowned." South on the west shore stretched the 
green plain of Gennesaret, and at its southern end was Magdala, home 
of Mary Magdalene. 

In the time of our Lord this sea must have mirrored within the out J 
line' of her guardian hills, little else than city walls, houses, synagogues; 
wharves and factories. Has not the prophecy been terribly fulfilled? 
The three cities whose sites are so obliterated as to be in lasting uncer- 
tainty are Bethsaida and Chorazin and Capernaum. "Woe unto thee,' 
Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! . . . And thou, Caper- 
naum, shalt thou be exalted to heaven? Thou shalt go down unto 
hades." We only know that the various ruins along the shore mark the 1 
site of those once populous towns, but which ruin denotes any given one 
of the three we do not know, and apparently cannot learn. We ire-' 



216 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



turned to Tiberias at about 1 p. m. Two swarthy boatmen stand in 
the water and carry you ashore. I was the first to land, and when 
violently seized I cried, "Let me down!" But when I landed on the 
shore safe and dry I was glad that my English was not understood by 
the gallant Tiberian. 

It requires no religious enthusiasm to invest with beauty the region 
about the sea of Galilee. It is truly a beautiful country. There are 
few trees* and their absence is sorely felt ; yet here and there stand 
groves of olives with their grateful shade. The hills beyond are barren, 
but those on the nearer side are fertile; some wave with grain, but in 
others the plow and the sower are busy, and along the way the wild 
flowers are abundant and beautiful. So the setting has sufficient verdure 
and contrast to make the nearer view delightful. It combines every 
element of landscape beauty, of scenic grandeur, of varied color and of 
historic interest necessary to kindle the imagination and satisfy the ideal, 
and leave on the memory an indelible picture of the best that can be 
seen in Palestine. Jordan, when one comes near it, is a muddy stream, 
narrow and uninviting. Jerusalem, however imposing in the distance, is 
a filthy and commonplace town within. Other sacred spots are over- 
grown with superstition, or disgraced by cupidity, or defiled by unhal- 
lowed associations; but the sea of Galilee lies, as it lay in Jesus' own 
day, enshrined in the shores he trod, and sparkling in beauty such as 
gladdened his eye. It is the least spoiled and the most beautiful and 
sacred spot in Palestine. The sea of Galilee witnessed his mature deeds 
and sublime words, and its associations are more intimate with specific 
incidents in his life, while its varied picturesqueness appeals to the aes- 
thetic sense. To one with no religious interest the scene is one of rare 
beauty ; to one who has this interest also, it is sublime. 

After lunch at Tiberias, while waiting in the carriage, a group of 
village boys formed about Mr. Hudson, of Syracuse, N. Y., who is 
the originator of a class known as the Baraca, and who has a special 
attraction for young men. Mr. Hudson gave to each a leaflet containing 
the picture of his class, in which they seemed much interested and 



. : - Galilee. 217 

readily recognized him as the teacher. He and the young men had a 
nice little visit, though one could not speak the language of the other. 
We passed up and around the long steep hill back of Tiberias, looking 
back and catching glimpses of the lake, which we see for the last time, 
and soon are met by processions of camels and donkeys and picturesquely 
dressed people, the most distinctly oriental. In a field close by a few 
laborers were enjoying a dance, while one furnished the music on a 
Strange instrument, and all seemed to us very strange and weird. 

We stopped at Cana again on our return, our driver making -a 
hurried detour as we approached the village under overhanging trees 
and high cactus to the spring, where we waited in our carriages. The 
people of the village came in great numbers and were very persistent in 
their efforts to sell their wares, iron or glass bracelets, gay keffies and 
other articles. Leaving Cana, the road was rough and difficult to 
ascend. In consideration for the tired horses and for safety to one's 
self, many chose to walk up the steep, rugged hills. 

As we reached Nazareth, about 7 p. m., the skies were dark and 
cloudy, and it was threatening to rain. We remained over night at the 
convent, and the next morning when we found our carriage, the boy 
who had been the driver from Haifa to Galilee and return, was absent, 
and we had three horses instead of two. As we waited in the carriage 
two men in anger and violence were engaged with knives and other cruel 
weapons in a deathlike quarrel. I think they did not belong to the 
village, but were strangers. Numerous camels were being ladened for 
a journey. They lie down on their feet, and enormous loads are fastened 
upon them. Then they rise, first on their hind feet and then on the fore, 
and are exceedingly awkward and homely. A man was standing by a 
wall by which he steadied himself as he scoured a pan with sand and a 
cloth, using his bare feet. 

At length we left Nazareth up around the hill which we came, in 
the meantime our driver singing merrily in Arabic as he endeavored to 
pass every team ahead of us. The natives wear loose blouses or tunics, 
which also afford a receptacle for various articles. They frequently 
take from it dark, flat cakes and generously offer the tourists a portion. 



218 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



We had a long ride of twenty-two miles and arrived at Haifa about 
midday and were then driven to a convent. In the hall as we enter 
are two sisters of the convent, dressed in black, each with a white bonnet, 
supporting a lady in a chair. We make inquiry, and learn that she is a 
Mrs. Brown, one of our party, who, though in poor health, was over- 
anxious to see the sea of Galilee, and who was returning to the ship ex- 
hausted with the journey. On the other side of the hall sat another 
lady, also one of the party who had attempted the trip overland to 
Jerusalem on horseback, but returned with the carriage party from Naza- 
reth, tired and discouraged in the attempt, but who the next morning was 
able to return with us to the boat and soon recovered from her exhaus- 
tion. We were well cared for at the convent and daintily served at the 
table. It was the only place we stopped in the orient where women were 
waiters. After lunch we walked about the city and were favorably im- 
pressed with the vicinity. The buildings were large and good, with gar- 
dens in front. Many Germans live in the city. A school of about 
forty boys were performing gymnastic exercises in a yard near by. The 
yards were beautified by numerous flowers and climbing vines. We pass 
by a water wheel on a stone elevation, turned by horse power. This 
wheel furnished water for irrigation purposes. We walked through an 
orange orchard where oranges lay ripe and plenty, but did not sample 
them, as we had no permission to do so. We walked by the seaside and 
out on the pier. A boy came with sticks of pink and white candy, 
which looked clean and more tempting than anything of the kind we had 
seen for sale on the street. The wharf was built or extensively repaired 
for the Emperor William. It used to be asked, "What shall he do who 
comes after the king?" It was assumed that he who came after the king 
had a hard time of it. But we were grateful whenever in Palestine we 
found ourselves camping on the trail of the Emperor William, because 
of the improved conditions of the roads. 

Near us rises Mount Carmel. The Mount Carmel of the present is 
the undisputed Mount Carmel of the past. Ancient ruins are yet to be 
seen. It was here, in answer to the prayer of Elijah, on an altar built 
of twelve stones, according to the; number of the tribes of the sons of 



Galilee. 



219 



Jacob, "that the people may know that thou art the Lord God, that the 
fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and 
the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the 
trench." Here also, according to the promise of God, Elijah waited 
and looked for indications of rain, which after the long drought came in 
great abundance. 

The next day we returned to our ship. Mrs. Brown, who was with 
us at the convent, was also carried aboard. We knew that she was 
very ill, but the next morning we were startled to learn, when so near to 
Jerusalem, the goal of the enterprise, that her spirit had passed beyond 
to the "new Jerusalem," the city of our God. We also learned by 
cablegrams that the young man, Warren Burns, left ill in a hospital at 
Gibraltar, was recovering, and would shortly return to his home and 
friends in America. 

April 1 Oth was the fourth Sunday since leaving New York. Serv- 
ices were held in the morning and evening, and the usual Sunday school 
in the afternoon. 



Jaffa. 



221 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Jaffa, the Nearest Port to Jerusalem. 

Jaffa (second arrival). Breakfast at 8 a. m. in forward dining-room. 
Lunch at 11:30 a. m., dinner at 6:30 p. m. 

Jerusalem hotel cards, which will be distributed on upper prome- 
nade deck, port side, as soon as they are brought on board after ship 
anchors, and will land in small boats, walk three blocks to the reputed 
site of the house of Simon the Tanner, then ten blocks through the 
city and narrow streets to the railway station, where special train 
leaves about m., arriving at Jerusalem about m. Car- 

riages are scarce in Joppa, and streets are too narrow for them to 
enter the city proper, so the few carriages available will convey 
as many of the ladies as possible from the city limits to the station, 
going and returning for others as fast as they can. All places of 
interest will be pointed out by our guides from the train. Upon 
arrival at Jerusalem carriages will be waiting, and passengers will 
please mention name of their hotel or convent and will be driven 
there. 

A few passengers booked for Gezar side-trip (10b) will sleep at 
Joppa (Hotel du Pare) and proceed by carriage the following day 44 
miles across the plain of Sharon and via Gezar to Jerusalem. 

HERBERT E. CLARK. 

The morning of the 1 1 th the sh ip anchored before Jaffa, and, as the- 
sea was very rough and weather unfavorable, we did not land until the - 
following morning. There are many shoals or rocks near the surface,- 
and as the sea is often rough the landing is made through many difficult 
ties and much danger. Two miles out we caught, in great profusion, 
the fragrance of the orange blossoms of the famous orchards of Jaffa, so 
greatly noted. 

We were carried to shore in small boats, each containing about forty 1 
persons. The boatmen of Jaffa are good sailors, and able to handle 
their craft in very rough waters. They also have a keen eye for bak- > 
shish, and never row so hard or so fast as to forget to pass the hat. It 
makes no difference if they have been overpaid at the start, or if the price ) 



222 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



agreed upon includes the bakshish, they still demand it, and as a rule 
collect it. They have a very persuasive way of collecting. They make 
these demands half way from ship to shore, and if it is refused the helms- 
man puts his tiller about, throws the boat into the trough, and the men at 
the oars reduce their pull to an effort that may aggregate a pound to the 
stroke. It is useless to request them to go on. With the most stolid in- 
difference they raise and drop their oars, the boat lying rocking in the 
trough, a direct invitation to seasickness. The measure rarely fails. 
The passengers feel their breakfast rising, and the money comes with it. 
It is a bare-faced piracy, and of a most effective type, but we leave all 
and gladly step out on Canaan's peaceful shore. He who sails these 
rough waters will never doubt the truthfulness of the story of Jonah's 
perilous voyage, and will sympathize most sincerely with the great sea- 
sick fish, in its hour of abject distress and misery. 

At Jaffa I expected a friend to meet me, but as we were delayed 
by the conditions of the waters, she failed to know the time of our ar- 
rival, and we afterward met in Jerusalem. We were requested to take 
little baggage with us. I carried a suitcase, a steamer rug, a bag and 
umbrella, and waited with others for a carriage to convey us to the sta- 
tion. I was the only one of our party remaining. After some time a 
swarthy man in red fez entered my carriage, and we drove on in silence, 
for we did not speak the same language, and I wondered, with some 
anxiety, if this man knew that I wanted to go to the railroad station, 
and if I was being conveyed there. After a time, however, we came in 
sight of the station, and I was exceedingly glad to see others of our party 
and be among them. 

The distance to Jerusalem is fifty-two miles. The time, on account 
of the grade, is about four hours. Jerusalem is about 2,500 feet above 
Jaffa. It was interesting to enter a railway train at Jaffa and be drawn 
to Jerusalem by a locomotive built in Philadelphia. The car was called 
American, because they are entered at the end, unlike the English car- 
riages. This railway was opened August 27, 1892. It was con- 
structed with rench capital, but it was a naturalized American citizen, 
Charles P. Zimpel, who worked out the line of the present railway thirty 



Jaffa. 



223 



years before it was built. He spent seven or eight years in America, de- 
voting himself exclusively to the work of surveying railroads. Going to 
the Holy Land, he surveyed and mapped out a railroad from Jaffa to 
Jerusalem, but failed to get the concessions necessary to build it. 

Jaffa is the main gate into Palestine, being the nearest seaport to 
Jerusalem. It stands on a symmetrical hill of rock, which rises from 
the low sandy coast, and presents a beautiful and picturesque appear- 
ance from the sea. Steamers anchor at some distance from the land, and 
it is said that the boat which takes the passengers ashore passed through 
the identical jagged reef, to one point of which Andromeda was chained, 
and from which she was relieved by Perseus, whose prowess is commemo- 
rated by one of the most brilliant constellations in the sky. 

Jaffa was anciently a Phoenician colony, and is supposed to have 
existed as a city before the flood. Its ancient name, Japha, the beauti- 
ful, is said to have been derived from Japhet, one of the sons of Noah. 
As a part of Philistia, it was brought under the dominion of the Jews by 
the Maccabees, who flourished for a hundred years. Just before the 
time of Christ they strongly fortified the town, but it was taken and de- 
stroyed by the Roman general, Cestius; rebuilt, it was destroyed again 
by Vespasian, on the plea that it was a den of thieves and pirates ; it soon 
revived and became a prominent Christian city, the seat of a bishopric, 
which character it lost at one time, owing to its conquest by the Arabs', 
but regained it later through the crusaders. 

Jaffa had many reverses during the crusades, coming into possession 
of the Knights of St. John A. D. 11 26, being destroyed by Saladin 
A. D. 1 187, rebuilt, and a second time destroyed by Saladin A. D. 
1191, it was recaptured by Richard the Lion Hearted, and finally 
taken again in A. D. 1 1 96 by the Moslems. In the fifteenth century 
Jaffa having almost ceased to exist, was once more rebuilt, surrounded by 
a city wall, L and a quay constructed, part of which still remains ; but in 
the eighteenth century this unfortunate town was sacked, first by the 
Arabs A. D. 1 722, then by the Mamelukes A. D. 1 755, and lastly by 
Napoleon A. D. 1799. 



224 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Jaffa was a southern boundary of the tribe of Dan, and there the tim- 
ber sent from the Lebanon by Hiram, king of Tyre, for the rebuilding 
of Solomon's temple at Jerusalem, was landed. It was also the port 
from which Jonah sailed on that famous voyage of three days and three 
nights, which he concluded so mysteriously in a boat of the whaleship 
line, by far more foreign than that in which he had first embarked. 

The most notable event which relates to the Christian history of 
Jaffa was the vision which Peter saw, which disposed him ta } receive the 
messengers from Cornelius, showing him that God is willing to accept the 
devotion of one who is not a Jew. This was the beginning of that lit- 
eral movement in the early church which prepared the Christian faith to 
become universal. The house of Simon the tanner is still shown. 
Whether it is genuine or not need not concern us greatly. It is an 
ancient house, overlooking the sea, and its flat roof is such a one as might 
have been the scene of Peter's vision. This is the center of interest to 
tourists in Jaffa, and the first place visited by them. At Jaffa also Peter 
restored Dorcas or Tabitha to life, her house, said to be now subter- 
ranean, being still shown in an orange garden near the town. 

Jaffa is a city of the most ancient type, and the primitive customs of 
the patriarchal age and the most modern improvements are brought to- 
gether here in striking contrast. At the market place one can see the 
genuine east, a combination of oriental features and colors, from sun- 
rise to sunset, with a crowd of people chattering at each other in all the 
languages of Asia Minor. Country peasants, foreign pilgrims, Bedou- 
ins, Arabs, Syrians, Egyptians, Turks and Jews, mixed up with camels, 
mules, donkeys, goats, buffaloes, cows, oxen, dogs, parrots, ducks, geese, 
hens and chickens, and all talking or screaming or braying, each trying to 
attract attention to himself or the wares he has for sale. Every product 
of the semi-tropical region, every fabric made by oriental hands, luscious 
fruits from the orchards of the neighborhood, lemons, oranges, figs, 
olives, pomegranates, quinces, apples, apricots and strawberries, every 
variety of vegetables and cheese, poultry and eggs, olive oil in pigskin 
bottles, and the petroleum in tin cans, meat of all kinds, dried fish, every- 
thing that anybody wants or that can be produced or procured in this 




16 



Jaffa. 



227 



country, is spread out upon the ground for sale. It is a novel and in- 
teresting sight. The outdoor market of Jaffa furnishes as fascinating a 
picture as an artist can find anywhere in the east. 

Jaffa has about 30,000 inhabitants, Mohammedans 1 8,000, Jews 
6,000 and Christians of the Armenian, Greek and Latin churches, and 
adherents of the sect "German Templar," holding peculiar Unitarian and 
Socinian views, about 6,000. It has a delightful climate, and is sur- 
rounded inland by 400 gardens or orchards of orange trees, each garden 
covering from three to twelve acres. Many of the gardeners are Egyp- 
tians and live by themselves in suburban villages composed of mud hov- 
els, as in Egypt. Jaffa is famous for her gardens. They extend around 
the city in a belt about seven miles long and a mile and a half wide, pro- 
ducing two or three crops a year. The soil seems to be inexhaustible, 
and an artesian basin under the city is a never failing supply of water for 
irrigating purposes. The water is pumped into distributing reservoirs by 
curious old wheels. Between Jaffa and Lydda we are in the midst of 
some of the richest farm lands of Palestine. The train takes us across 
the fertile plain of Sharon, where wild flowers are prolific and beautiful 
in color, and where the rose of Sharon blooms in its native beauty. 
Thousands of goats and sheep, camels and cattle, find pasturage on these 
plains. 

Lydda is memorable as the place where Peter healed the palsied 
Enets recorded in the ninth chapter of Acts. We enter the pleasant 
cactus hedged gardens which surround Ramleh, where Joseph of Ari- 
mathea is supposed to have lived, "who also himself waited for the king- 
dom of God," and laid Christ's body in his own hewn tomb in Jerusa- 
lem. Ramleh was also once the headquarters of Napoleon. 

Sejed, "the place of worship," is the third station, where it is be- 
lieved the Philistines once had a sanctuary to Baal. Here we meet a 
train conveying many Russian pilgrims from Jerusalem. Over the hill, 

not far from the next station, is Dur-aban, the tomb of Samson, who 
lived and wrought his mighty deeds in this country. The railway line 
now follows the numerous and often abrupt windings of the ravine, keep- 
ing along the mountainside at an elevation of about thirty or forty feet 
from the torrent bed. 



228 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Just after entering the ravine we notice in a precipice high on the 
northern bank, a large cave with an ancient building in its mouth, and a 
line of rock hewn steps leading down to it. This rock and cave, which 
was once the abode of hermits, is now generally supposed to be the Rock 
Etam of Judges xv., 8-11. Further up other hermits' caves are seen on 
the northern side of the valley. 

We are fast approaching the Judean hills. The grade is at times 
very sharp. We are indeed "going up to Jerusalem." The scenery is 
becoming wondrous wild, and presents a rare combination of rugged 
mountains, deep gorges covered with scarlet anemones, modest cycla- 
men, blue bells and wild marguerites. The scenery from the rear of 
the train is most interesting and picturesque. For an hour or more the 
train winds among the wonderful hills until the station, Bitter, is reached. 
Still we ascend and each new eminence gained brings us nearer to the 
city, the goal of our cruise. As we come into the open country we note 
on the right the hills that surround Bethlehem, and on the left a few 
solitary houses. Now the Russian tower on the Mount of Olives comes 
into view. 

There were conflicting emotions. Some of the party were excited, 
others grave. One aged pastor shed tears when he saw the city. It 
was a short carriage ride from the station, first down into the valley of 
Hinnom at the base of Mount Zion, and then up past the Jaffa gate to 
the several hotels where rooms were waiting for the members of our 
party, having been engaged by Herbert E. Clark, United States vice 
consul for Palestine, and the manager of our party. 



Jerusalem. 



229 



CHAPTER XVII. 
The Holy City. 

Jerusalem is, in a sense, the capital city of the world. The Chris- 
tian, the Jew and Mohammedan regard it with extraordinary interest 
and veneration. Its name signifies "the City of Peace," and yet no 
city has been so often pillaged and demolished, only to be rebuilt and 
repeopled. Twenty-seven times has this been its fate, but Jerusalem, 
revered, lifted up, rock bound and rock undergirded, lives today. We 
have letters from an Egyptian governor of Jerusalem to Pharaoh writ- 
ten a century before Moses. It is mentioned in Genesis by the name of 
Salem. As a national center it dates from the time of its capture by 
David (II. Samuel, v., 6-9) — 1040 before Christ; and as a religious 
center, five years later, when the ark rested within its walls. For the 
next 2,000 years Jerusalem suffered severely at the hands of the Egyp- 
tians, Israelitish, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian and Roman kings and 
armies, terminating in the siege and taking of the city 70 A. D., by 
Titus, at which time the temple was demolished and the daily sacrifice 
ceased. 

For two centuries and more Jerusalem was completely pagan. 
Shrines to Jupiter and Venus were erected on the site of the temple. 
The name of Jerusalem was suppressed, and Jews forbidden to come 
within sight of the city under penalty of death. Jerusalem first became 
Christian about 33 A. D., and remained such for three centuries. In 
614 A. D. Chosroes, the Persian, captured it, and thirty years later the 
Arabs gained possession, set up the standard of Mohammed and changed 
the name -to El kuds, "The Holy," by which it is still known in the East. 
For several hundred years the city was captured and recaptured by con- 
tending forces, and since 1 244 has been a Moslem city. 

By length of occupation, the religion of Mohammed has the strong- 
est claim upon the possession of Jerusalem. It has been dominant there 



230 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



for about eleven and a half centuries, the Jewish for about ten centuries, 
the Christian for four and the heathen religions of Syria and Rome for 
about three centuries. Each of these periods has been broken by inter- 
vals — the Jewish by the exile and the Syrian conquest; the Christian by 
the first and second victories of the Saracens, and Mohammedan by 

nearly a century of Christian ownership during the crusades. All these 
are subsequent to the taking of the city by David, behind which lies the 

long past of Jebusite, Egyptian and unknown ownership. 

Even m those early days Jerusalem seems to have been a religious 

center, for Abraham, returning from his successful pursuit of the eastern 

invaders, stooped and gave tithes to the king, Melchizedek, "the prince 

of the most high God." In him Abraham recognized a brother of 

common faith. 

There have been six great buildings used as the central shrine of 
these religions, two of which, the mosque of Omar and the church of the 
Holy Sepulcher, are still standing. The first was Solomon's temple, 
which stood for three centuries and a half ; then Ezra's, which lasted for 
nearly five centuries, and was replaced by Herod's temple, which was 
not quite a century old when the Romans destroyed it. The third was 
Hadrian's temple of Jupiter, which lasted over a century. The Chris- 
tians deserted the actual temple site for the place of the Holy Sepulcher, 
and their church has lasted, with many changes, more than a millennium 
and a half. The mosque of Omar has served nearly thirteen centuries 
for Moslem worship, and nearly one as a Christian church. 

The city came into prominence in political history during the reign of 
David. Up to this time it had remained the fortress of the Jebusites, 
who believed it to be so secure that the blind and the lame could defend 
it. After capturing this stronghold, David moved his capital here from 
Hebron and established a city which included the southern end of the 
present town, together with somewhat more of territory to the south. 
Jerusalem is surrounded on the three sides by deep ravines, which make 
it easily defensible, and probably accounts for its location. When cap- 
tured, it has always been captured from the north, unless an exception 




Hp 

w 



Toa.V s VYel\. 



Jerusalem. 



233 



be made in favor of David's own assault upon the place, when the at- 
tack was made by the watercourse. 

The modern Jerusalem is a walled city inclosing the southern half of 
a divided hill, the valley between the two parts extending north and south. 
The higher of these elevations, popularily known as Mount Zion, is 
2,593 feet above the Mediterranean, and the other, Mount Moriah, is 
2,440 feet. The valley separating the two hills is known as the Tyro- 
pean or Cheese Monger's valley, once a ravine of considerable depth and 
spanned by a bridge from the temple area to the hill opposite, which is 
now so filled with rubbish and built over with houses as almost to 
have disappeared. 

Viewed from the Mount of Olives, or from Scropus, the city pre- 
sents an imposing appearance. The wall of the city is thirty-eight and 
one-half feet high, has seven gates and thirty-four towers and is two and 
one-fifth miles around. The walls rise from the brow of a hill which 
itself ascends sharply from the valley, and gives to the town an appear- 
ance of great strength. The flat roofed houses, surmounted by domes 
and minarets, give an impression of solidity, with variety and richness. 
The town withm the walls covers 209 Yl acres, but the city extends out- 
ward in several directions, especially to the west and north. The clean- 
est and best part of the city is that outside the walls, the section north- 
west of the town being occupied largely by foreigners, and having much 
the aspect of a European town. The latitude of the city is 3 1 degrees 
47 minutes north, and the longitude is 35 degrees 14 minutes east. 
Measuring in a straight line, it is twenty-two miles from the river Jordan 
and thirty-two miles from the Mediterranean. 

The Dead sea, which is in plain sight from the highest buildings of 
the city, is eighteen miles distant. The climate, on the whole, is mod- 
erate. Extreme heat and cold are not common, though the heat is felt 
severely by reason of the glare of the sun and the absence of shade, and 
the cold causes considerable suffering on account of the lack of fuel. 
The oldest houses are built of stone, with flat roofs and floors paved with 
tile, set in cement. They are warmed by charcoal braziers and are 
frequently without chimneys. Rain falls only between October and 



234 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



May, the season of the early and later rains, and on an average only 
on fifty-two days of the year. 

The present population of Jerusalem is about 60,000, of whom 
7,000 are Moslems, 4,000 are Latins, 6,000 are Orthodox Greeks, 
1 4,000 Mohammedans, 1 ,000 Armenians, and about 30,000 are Jews, 
the latter have over seventy synagogues, and the number is increasing. 
Much has been done to induce Jews to return to Jerusalem, and with 
some success. Money is collected in various parts of the world to be 
distributed among the poor Jews there. About 1 ,000 of the Jews are 
American citizens, but many of them have never seen America. 

It is the city inside the walls that appeals chiefly to the tourist. Enter- 
ing at the Jaffa gate, near the middle of the city on the west side, one 
leaves upon his right the ancient tower of David, so called, which fronts 
the American consulate and several of the best business houses. To his 
right is the Armenian quarter, and toward the left is the Christian. The 
Mohammedan quarter lie? in the northeast section of the city, and the 
Jewish in the south, between the American quarter and the temple area. 
All the places of interest are easily found, and while the streets are 
narrow and crooked, it is not very difficult to keep the general direction, 
and it is unnecessary for one to lose himself even for a short time. 

From Jaffa gate east a guide conducted a party through David 
street to the temple area. This is a walled quadrangle containing about 
thirty-six acres. An interesting event occurred here. A beautiful, snow 
white carrier' dove, which had been brought on board the Grosser Kur- 
furst at New York by Miss Jessie Ackerman, was set free, with this 
message tied under its wing: "Greetings to the Universal Peace union 
from Jerusalem. Any one finding this message will communicate with 
Miss Jessie Ackerman." When liberated, the dove flew up and lighted 
on the Mosque of Omar, then it plumed its feathers and flew toward the 
west. We learned afterward that the dove was found in Norway, 
probably unable to make its way farther over the expansive waters of 
the Atlantic. 

There is no land in all the earth which possesses an interest so wide 
and so deep as that which gathers around the little land of Palestine. 



9 

f 




The Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem. 



Jerusalem. 



237 



To Christians, Jews and Mohammedans alike the land is sacrea. The 
central shrine of the land is Jerusalem, ' the Holy City." And the 
central shrine of the city is the temple site, "the holiest part of the 
Holy City." 

If we knew the location of Calvary and of Christ's sepulcher, then 
to Christians these would be accounted the most sacred. But no one 
knows to a certainty just where to place these. But no one doubts the 
genuineness of Mt. Moriah. Mountains do not have a habit of moving 
about, as do not a few of the so called sacred places of Palestine. Then, 
too, the surface of the summit of the mountain is not so great that the 
temple could have been situated very far from the traditional site. It is, 
therefore, very sure that inside the walled enclosure now known as the 
H arem es Shareef, or temple area, stood first the temple of Solomon, then 
successively the temple of Zerubbabel, the temple of Herod, of the time 
or Christ, destroyed in A. D. 70, the heathen temple Hadrias, and now 
stands the Kubbet es Sakkrah, or "Dome of the Rock." 

The mosque of Omar is a domed, octagonal building, each side of 
which is sixty-six and one-half feet in length. Externally, the lower 
part of the building is faced from the ground to the window sills with 
slabs of finely variegated marble. The upper portion is covered with 
porcelain tiles of subdued blue. At the door we were requested to put 
on great leather slippers over our shoes, and a sheik took us in charge 
to show us the interior. The interior of the building is 1 74 feet in 
diameter and is divided into three concentric parts by two series of sup- 
ports. The first series, by which the outer octagonal aisle is formed, con- 
sists of eight piers and sixteen columns, two columns being placed between 
each pair of the corner piers. The shafts of the columns are of marble 
and differ in color. They have all been taken from older edifices. The 
sidewalks are covered with beautifully figured marbles. The arches and 
upper portion are adorned with mosaics, the rich and variegated designs 
of which are not easily described. The second aisle is formed by a 
series of supports arranged in a circle on which rests also the dome. 
Immense and elegant rugs of Turkish design and manufacture cover the 



238 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



floor, the gift of the present sultan, their color combining well with the 
other furnishings. The inner supports consist of four massive piers and 
twelve columns. The dome which rises on these supports is ninety-eight 
feet high and sixty-six feet in diameter, and on the outside is covered with 
lead and painted black. The crescent stands sixteen feet above the dome. 
Inside, the dome is blue and richly adorned with painted and gilded 
stucco. Just beneath the dome lies the holy rock, which is fifty-seven 
feet long and forty-three feet wide, rising six and one-half feet above the 
ground, and hovering as faithful Mohammedans assert, without support 
over a cavern, which, through a hole m the rock, has received the blood 
of innumerable sacrifices in all ages. From here Abraham worshiped 
and offered sacrifices and burnt offerings. Some affirm that it was here 
that he was about to offer up his son Isaac. Elijah and David, jesus and, 
Mahomet have prayed here. According to tradition the souls of the 
righteous dead come here twice a week to pray. The ark of the covenant 
is supposed to be buried below, on which account no Jew would venture 
to cross the threshold of the mosque of Omar, lest he should unwittingly 
profane the holy of holies by his tread. 

When Mahomet had prayed here "he was," say Moslems, "trans- 
lated to heaven on his miraculous winged steed, and communicated such 
an upward impetus to the holy rock with the whirlwind of his ascent" 
that the angel Gabriel had to fly down and stay it with his finger, lest 
the world should be bereft of its altar. The finger marks are still shown 
on the rock, which the sheik pointed out to us, as well as the hole in the 
stone for the passage of the blood of the animals used for sacrifice. 
About this stone in close proximity is a stone basement, on which stands 
an open wire fence through which visitors may look. 

Of the four gates of the temple the northern gate is called the gate 
of Paradise. Within one of these four gates, it is said, Mahomet had 
driven into a slab of jasper, forming part of the pavement, nineteen 
golden nails, one of which, it is said, has fallen out at the close of every 
epoch. But few remain, and when all shall have disappeared it is 
prophesied that the world will come to an end. The nails were apparent- 
ly of little commercial value. If they were really of gold their absence 



Jerusalem. 



241 



would have precipitated the end of the world long before this twentieth 
century. 

One of our party placed a silver piece on a nail, and the sheik looked 
pleased and said, "Yes, go to heaven," but shook his head, saying, "Only 
half way," when his wife put down a smaller coin. A short time before 
leaving, the sheik ordered out of the temple a Moslem woman, whose 
wild, angry words were unintelligible to us. He said that the Mos- 
lems hated the Christians, and that she was cursing us. 

There is another temple in the Harem, south of the temple of O ~:\ 
known as the mosque of El Aksa. It is a complex architectural stru. _.:e 
and covers a large area. It gives an impression of either being incom- 
plete or in a state of decay. In the mosque of El Aksa one wanders 
about over a good deal of territory, but the place has no focus, as has 
that of Omar. There is no pulpit, no altar, and the worshiper faces 
toward Mecca to pray. When he reads the Koran he rocks back and 
forth and chants in a singsong tone without apparently understanding a 
word of what he says. When he prays he prostrates himself repeatedly 
with his forehead to the carpet, advancing at intervals to the other squares 
in regular order. The mosques in general are less attractive places than 
one expects to find. The decorations are comparatively cheap. There 
is an excess of stucco and tinted calcimine. The worshipers, what few 
there are, are apparently devout. The mosque of El Aksa contains two 
pillars between which it is said if a man can crowd himself he is sure to 
get to heaven. It is said, on certain days, when there were crowds in 
Jerusalem, these pillars occasioned a good deal of disturbance on the 
part of those eager to get between, and more or less sorrow to fat people 
who tried them in vain. Somebody got killed once in a raid, or because 
of too strong an effort to get through. So now the pillars are enclosed 
with iron pickets. One can see that the pillars are slightly worn, making 
it eaiiier for a fat man to enter the kingdom now than formerly. 

On ascending steps to get a view from the top of the wall we notice 
the protruding section of an ancient column, built into the wall horizon- 
tally. This column can be seen also from the outside, and to it, according 
to Mohammedan tradition, a rope, fine and slender as a spider's web, 

17 



242 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



will be fastened at the last day, stretching over the valley of Jehoshaphat 
from the mount of Olives. On this weak bridge the souls of the good 
from the numerous tombs on the side of the mount will cross over safely, 
to enter paradise, while the bad will fall midway into the valley, no 
one knowns where. 

Under this mosque, or under the whole area of the harem, we may 
descend into spacious substructures. In one of these, known as Solomon's 
stables, may be seen structures that probably date back to the time of 
Sc 1 : ^on. The south end of the temple area is built upon arches rising 
th: v >pe of the hill to a level with its summit, and the portion underneath 
was doubtless utilized for the care of animals intended for sacrifices. In 
the time of the crusaders soldiers stabled their horses there, and the 
mangers, in good condition, are still to be seen. 

These things are interesting, but one finds himself coming back, in 
imagination, to the time when the temple stood here, and the great Jewish 
nation gathered for its solemn festivals. There is a majestic beauty in 
the broad expanse of those level courts, on the plateau of Moriah, flanked 
by that bit of arched colonnade, with the tower of Antonia off to the 
right, that makes one fairly see the courts of old, thronging with their 
worshipers, clouds of smoke and fire ascending from sacrifices of burnt 
offering, while, rising above all, one can picture the glories of the temple 
itself. 

But even more one recalls the last days of the earthly life of Christ, 
so intimately associated with this spot. It was a week of storm and 
stress. At the end, as at the beginning of his ministry, he cleansed the 
temple from its mercenaries, and assumed authority in the house of God. 
On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday he was there, at first with an authority 
that no one dared question, but later in the midst of constant and increas- 
ing tumult. Sunday was his day of triumph ; Monday, his day of undis- 
puted authority ; Tuesday, the day filled from morning to night with 
controversies and intrigues against him; Wednesday he seemed to have 
spent in retirement at Bethany ; on Thursday afternoon he entered the city 
to eat the passover with his disciples, and on Friday he was crucified. 




The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem. 



Jerusalem. 



245 



Such is the simple outline of that strenuous week that began with the 
crowd's shout of "Hosanna!" and ended with its cry of "crucify him!" 
and the despair that then settled over the souls of his followers. One 
remembers all this as he stands upon the temple area, and fits one scene 
after another of gospel narrative into its place on that spot, so crowded 
with historical associations. 

As he passed out he did not fail to notice the widow casting in her 
mite, and doubtless paused, as he walked through the court of the gentiles, 
to receive the delegation of Greek proselytes, who at this time pressed 
forward to see him. Then out of the city to the mount of Olives he 
passed, his former adherents watching him timidly and his enemies with 
deep maledictions. He paused upon the mount of Olives to look back 
upon Jerusalem, glorious in the sunset, and his disciples, even in that 
hour, could not refrain from expressing to him their admiration of the 
buildings and temple. It was at this time that Jesus declared that not 
one stone of Jerusalem should be left upon another, and also affirmed, 
and most astounding must have seemed his faith, that his kingdom was 
to triumph over all the earth. 

Not one stone was left on another of the temple, as it stood in 
Christ's day, and there is only one stone in existence which we are cer- 
tain belonged to it. In the famous imperial museum at Constantinople 
is a stone discovered in 1871, that marked the limit of the court of 
gentiles, and bears this inscription, in seven lines of Greek capitals: "No 
stranger is to enter within the balustrade round the temple and enclosure. 
Whoever is caught, will be responsible to himself for his death." 

A short distance northeast of the temple of Omar is the Golden Gate, 
supposed to be built on the site of the gate of Christ's triumphal entry. 
The present gate was erected and walled up when the walls of the city 
were rebuilt, about 1 336 to 1 339. Some point to this closed gate as a 
fulfillment of the prophecy by Ezekiel: "Then said the Lord unto me, 
This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter 
in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, there- 
fore it shall be shut." The Moslems say that on a Friday a Christian 
conquerer will enter the Golden Gate and take Jerusalem from them. 



246 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The church of the Holy Sepulcher is supposed to contain the tomb 
of Christ, and the cave in which the Empress Helena found the cross in 
the third century. At Easter thousands of pilgrims crowd this church to 
witness the ceremony of the holy fire. This church, in fact, is a cluster 
of churches, chapels and shrines, built separately at different periods, but 
now all covered by one roof. Under Constantine the Great the site of the 
crucifixion of the saviour was diligently sought for, and it is said that cn 
the spot which was then fixed upon as the scene of the chief events of 
those three fateful days, a memorial church of Byzantine splendor was 
built by his mother, St. Helena, about 325 years after Christ, which 
stood for 355 years until Jerusalem fell into the hands of Omar and his 
Moslems. They did not greatly injure the edifice, but about 969, the 
order for its destruction was given by the Caliph Maez. In 1010 the 
mad Caliph Hakim completed its destruction. Its rebuilding was begun 
in 1 040 by the patriarch Necephorus. In 1 099 the crusaders entered 
Jerusalem and enlarged both the church and the sepulcher. In 1 808 
this church was burned. The conflagration was terrible, and for five 
hours raged within this spot, the then dearest on earth to Christian hearts. 
In 1810 the present church was completed, at a cost of nearly $3,000,- 
000, one-third of which, it is said, was paid to lawyers and for bribing 
of Turkish officials. Without this bribery, the building could hardly 
have been erected at all. 

Within this church are several booths or chapels. The Greek church 
has the largest possession in this most ancient of cathedrals, within which 
each branch of the Christian faith has its own particular chapel or shrine, 
and in which lamps are always burning resplendently. A touching devo- 
tion of religious faith may be observed in the humble niche possessed by 
the few, but faithful Egyptians representing the Coptic church, which, 
through all temptations and perils, refused to abandon Christianity for 
the new and easier faith of the dashing Saracen. 

Noticing the different chapels under the same roof, I remembered that 
in our own land, though of a common faith, we have many denomina- 
tions, and prefer separate houses of worship. It is said that these people 
quarrel sometimes over so small a matter as sweeping the steps of this 



Jerusalem. 



249 



hallowed place, and that Turkish officials are necessary to keep the 
peace. I visited this church twice, and each time found it thronged. 
On entering, one observes that the ceiling is very high and that about 
the room there are several divisions or chapels, and near the door is a 
stone slab raised but little above the pavement, called the anointing stone, 
said to be that on which the body of Christ was laid when anointed by 
Nicodemus. 

But what is most noticeable near the center is a small marble edifice 
finely carved and decorated. A fine pavement leads to the entrance, 
with tall candles on each side. On entering one stoops low. Within is 
a small room lighted by tapers, and at one side is a marble slab raised 
about three feet from the floor, said to mark the place where the body of 
Christ lay. How sacred a place it appears to many. It has been 
bathed with countless tears, and has received the passionate kisses of 
hundreds of thousands of wayworn pilgrims. And whether or not it is 
the exact spot it is believed by these to be, it is certain, at least, that it 
commemorates momentous events which must have taken place there- 
abouts. 

To me it was a disappointment. I had thought of Christ's burial 
place, as described in the gospels, as a rockhewn tomb in a garden out- 
side the city wall ; but how different it is near the center of the city, sur- 
rounded by buildings and enclosed by walls, and inside, so much gilt 
and glitter. Within this edifice one is shown the place where the 
crosses stood, the place where they were found, the place where the^ 
women witnessed the crucifixion, the place where the garments were di- 
vided, the place whence came the earth from which Adam was created, 
also his grave. It is also said this church marks the center of the world. 
It is frequently remarkable how so many events are grouped in so smill 
an area in this land. 

For more than 1 ,600 years this site has been accepted as genuine by 
the great majority of Christians. A great many so consider it yet, tut 
within the last 200 years the genuineness of the spot has been seriously 
questioned, and the place of Christ's sepulcher is located by many in a 
rockhewn tomb in a garden now known as Gordon's Calvary, outside 



250 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



the city wall, which place meets all conditions of knowledge obtainable. 

When we were at the church of the Holy Sepulcher pilgrims were 
there in great numbers from various countries, and their passionate kisses 
of the place where the cross had rested, and where the body of Jesus had 
lain, as well as their deep groanings and cries, could but arouse sympa- 
thy. Many of the Russian pilgrims purchased cloths on which were 
printed the scenes of the crucifixion, which they laid upon the sepulcher 
of Christ, and then folded up to carry home, to be laid upon their own 
tombs. But the garden tomb, rather than the Holy Sepulcher, was the 
spot which stirred our deepest feelings. One by one we made our way 
to it and lost ourselves in reverent thought. It is a simple rock-hewn 
tomb, with no embellishments save a simple garden in which flowers 
bloom. Christians have purchased the site and walled it in. It is 
hoped thus to preserve it. 

Saturday morning I was again at the church of the Holy Sepulcher, 
and nearby we entered another church where service was being held. 
We stood in the midst of worshipers robed in spotless white, chanting 
songs of praise and adoration. We seemed to be with angels surround- 
ed by the heavenly host, and for a time forgot that we were earthly. 
The scene was very impressive, and one to be long remembered. Greek 
priests wear long hair and tall black hats with a rim projecting at the 
top instead of the bottom, while the Armenian priests wear pointed 
black hoods. In Palestine, as well as in Europe, the clergy are 
'eadily recognized by the manner of their dress. 

The same morning, accompanied by a friend, we walked out to the 
American colony, which is situated in the northern part of the city. On 
the way we met many English tourists who evidently also enjoyed a 
long walk, and whose ruddy, pleasant faces indicated health and happi- 
ness. Many of our friends were staying at the colony, and were de- 
lighted with the location and accommodations, but most of all with the 
food served, which was cooked according to American devices. As we 
looked down upon the open court, where our friends were partaking of 
baking powder biscuit and genuine pumpkin pie, a sensation of home- 
sickness and an aching void came over us which is hardly describable. 



Jerusalem. 



253 



We were kindly received and hospitably entertained by the managers, 
who stated that their society was one of brotherly love, and that they 
advocated and practised the principle of the "Golden Rule." These 
people controlled several manufacturing establishments, and have shops 
in the city, and are known as the American colony, although few of 
them are Americans, but are Europeans who settled in America for a 
short time and migrated to Palestine. 

On our return, a guide was kindly furnished us, as we had difficulty 
in finding our way, and as those of whom we inquired did not under- 
stand our language. Returning to our hotel, a former friend called, 
who is now a teacher in the girl's mission school at Jaffa. It was pleas- 
ant, indeed, to meet a familiar face in a foreign land, and we planned 
to meet again the following day. Meetings were held in the tabernacle 
of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, where several of the conven- 
tion party gave short addresses, and at the same place in the afternoon 
several attended the Sunday school. 

Monday afternoon I received an invitation to a private home in the 
city, and there met delegates from Hebron, Jaffa and Jerusalem of the 
Christian and Missionary Alliance in Palestine, and from them learned 
something of their work. 

At the northeast part of the city is St. Stephen's gate. It is prob- 
ably that wnich Christ was led through, on the way from Gethsemane 
to the high priest's house, and near this gate is the Church of St. Ann, 
erected in memory of St. Ann, mother of the Virgin Mary, and on the 
left tne pool called Birket Israel, or the ancient Bethseda. Here is a 
great hollow in two divisions. The whole length, east and west, is 350 
feet, and the breadth is 1 30 feet. Though it has been the common re- 
ceptacle of the filth of the neighborhood for generations, it is still quite 
deep in places, but the masonry which remains is of a later date than 
that of the Herodian walls of the temple. It is the only natural spring 
of Jerusalem. It therefore presents the phenomenon of intermittent 
troubling of the water, which overflows from a natural syphon under 
the cave. It was probably here that on the Sabbath day the man obeyed 
Jesus and was cured of his illness of thirty years. The Jews still bathe 



254 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



in its waters for the cure of rheumatism and other disorders. Sheep are 
still gathered here for watering. 

At the Chapel of Scourging the Via Dolorosa begins, along whose 
course are shown the celebrated Fourteen Stations of the Cross, at each 
of which myriads of pilgrims have bent the knee in prayer, and whose 
traditions, having been long the subject of the painter, are familiar to 
most travelers through the pictures in illustration of these legends, which 
may be seen in all Roman Catholic and oriental churches. Shortly 
after passing the Chapel of Scourging we see on the right the Convent of 
the Sister of Zion, well worthy, as some believe, of a visit, as containing 
the Ecce Homo arch, a relic of the judgment hall of Pontius Pilate. It 
is called the Ecce Homo arch because of the legend that Pilate placed 
upon it to be seen by all, when he exclaimed, ' Behold the man!" and 
later, "Behold your king." But the crowd in the street cried out, 
"Away with him, away with him, crucify him." Here also what some 
supposed to be the original pavement of the Via Dolorosa is shown, many 
feet below that of the present day. These ancient and well preserved 
ruins show a part of the city which without doubt was the scene . of 
Christ's final rejection by the people and his condemnation by the Roman 
pf'vers. 

Above, on the roofed terraces, the kind sisters permit the visitors to 
enjoy the most perfect view of the H arem, and of Jerusalem generally, 
that can be seen anywhere. A good view may also be obtained from 
the roof of the Turkish barracks, occupying the traditional site of Pontius 
Pilate, on the opposite side of the street. The Via Dolorosa ends with 
the church of the Holy Sepulcher. 

The northwest section of Jerusalem, inside the wall, is the business 
part of the city, intersected by narrow streets that are crowded from 
early morning until late afternoon. Sidewalks are rare and the absence 
of street lights make night trading impossible. In 1902 the water sup- 
ply of the city was increased by connection with Solomon's pools, brought 
through iron pipes and distributed free at two fountains. Friday is 
market day, and the Jewish Sabbath is the same as our Saturday. It is 
strictly observed by them. 



Water Carriers and Sellers in Jerusalem. 



260 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The wall was strengthened at corners and at certain distances 
along its straight lines by what the bible calls ''towers," and so we 
read, "Walk about Zion and go round about her; tell the towers 
thereof." Ps. xlviii:12. 

The principal gates were near the middle of the sides, and there 
were some others, as we see from the account given by Nehemiah. 
A gate is more than an opening through the wall. It has a right turn 
within it, so that it may be better defended. In a crowded city like 
Jerusalem, with very narrow streets, people who wished to meet 
others to trade or parley went to the gates. There, for instance, 
Absalom sat and spoke to those who came from the country and won 
their hearts to him from his father David; and there prophets took 
their stand to speak to the people. 

It was apparently in Solomon's time that the present line of walls, 
west, north and east, was built, and the eastern wall was then very 
high, rising as it did from the slopes of Moriah and supporting the 
courtyard of the temple. The wall now shows huge stones near the 
ground, evidently of the original work; but we know well the whole 
wall at the southeast angle, because a shaft was sunk by the Ex- 
ploration fund a little way from the wall, and galleries were run to 
it, until at last the shaft was eighty feet down, and then the engineers 
were as low as the base of the wall. There, on one of the lower 
stones, was the red paint still bright, and it showed the marks of 
Hiram's masons, their personal marks as is supposed, and not a 
date or record. 

It was as long ago as 1838 that Dr. Edward Robinson, in tracing 
the wall round the temple court, found certain stones which were 
built in to form the beginning of an arch. This was at the back of the 
temple, where Solomon built a special wall and had a passage over 
to the other hill, Zion. When the engineers were working here they 
calculated the arch, and found the other end underground on the 
side of the valley. 

At one point, on the east, they also got under the wall and found 
a great column, perhaps of Solomon's porch or colonnade, which had 
slipped down as far as it could go. On the bottom of this they again 
saw mason's marks. 

1 have said that the south wall does not follow its old line. It 
is now nearly straight and goes across Zion, but formerly it swept 
around its front, making a perfect defense, so that the Jebusites jeered 
at David when he came to capture it. This old wall, however, has been 
completely uncovered recently by the American, Dr. F. J. Bliss, and 
he found towers and gates as on the other sides. He had to go down 
some feet to find the wall, and then dig deeply to uncover it, but at 
one point he found a noble tower by a gate which led out toward 
Bethlehem, and which had been used so long that it had three thres- 
holds, one above another. 

This gate, which is probably the one which Nehemiah called the 
"Valley Gate," was toward the west. When he got along, eastward, 



Outside the Walls of Jerusalem. 



261 



to the turning point, he found a large gate which was probably what 
Nehemiah called the "Fountain Gate," for it led down to the well 
from which, in the summer, the people still drink. This gate had a 
paved street coming to it from inside the city, and, part of the way 
it was so steep that it was cut in stairs, "the stairs that went down 
from the city of David" (Nehemiah iii : 15) . The bible is always a 
correct guide to the explorer, as it is in the way of life — to the ex- 
plorer, and to every one — "a light to the feet and a guide to the path" 
(Psalms cxix:105. 

When the fact is seen that the present walls of Jerusalem have no 
military strength, except against an attack of footmen, and when we 
find that the houses now extend beyond the wall on the west and north, 
we may fear lest this mass of building material may be used as the 
pyramid stones were used to build Cairo; but here comes in fortu- 
nately the conservatism of the Moslem, who prefers old things to 
new, and we of America will join with them in this, and will always 
"take pleasure in her stones," Psalms cii:14. 

Friday afternoon we had a donkey ride outside the walls of the city. 
Learning that conveyances of this sort were in waiting, I hurried out to 
make a selection; others also did the same. As the supply was limited, 
each took what he could secure, and I was left Hobson's choice, but had 
reason to be grateful for the miserable looking little animal that fell to my 
lot, for he was very true and sure-footed and took great time as he passed 
through the narrow, stony paths leading up and down and around the 
hills. He seemed very familiar with the roads and doubtless had trav- 
eled them many years. A boy assisted me in mounting and instructed 
me by signs not to use the rein. I became better acquainted with the 
boy with whom I could not speak, and from the Hotel du Pare, opposite 
the northwest corner of the city wall, we passed north by the Russian set- 
tlement. 

The Russian people have done much for modern Jerusalem, one of 
the handsomest parts of the city outside the walls being the collection of 
buildings called the Russian Quadrangle. It is built on an elevation and 
enclosed with high walls, and is entered by three great gates and two 
smaller doors. Within the walls of this enclosure are the buildings of 
the Russian consulate with its lovely garden. A cathedral, a fine hos- 
pital and dispensary, also large hospices, where 3,000 pilgrims can be 
lodged at a time. They have also several schools, one being for Arab 
children. 



Outside the Walls of Jerusalem. 



259 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Outside the Walls of Jerusalem. 

The following article from the able pen of Dr. Theodore F. Dwight 
is of especial interest in view of the exploration and excavation work 
carried on in different parts of the Holy Land under the auspices of the 
Palestine exploration fund: 

Standing today on nearly the same lines, on the west, north and 
east, which they occupied centuries ago, the walls of Jerusalem, once 
white have grown yellow and gray and roughened; but we can see at 
once stones seven feet high and thirty long, and having the "Jewish 
bevel" or squared edge, while the central part of the face was not 
smooth, and left "quarry-face." 

After many destructions followed by terrible massacres, the pres- 
ent walls were built by the Sultan Suliman, in or about the year 1542, 
and he did not try to restore the wall which ran around the brow of 
Zion on the south, but on the other sides he followed the same, or 
nearly the same lines. As we look carefully, we can see what was 
standing when he went to work, and where he began to mend, using 
smaller blocks and taking anything that came to hand, bases of 
pillars as well as house blocks. 

It has been found by excavation that he sometimes built a few 
feet away from the old line; and this is easily explained, for the old 
line was a mass of ruin at some points, and at such places he would 
not try to move the whole mass, but would start again nearby and 
pile the old stones on a new base. 

The wall is nearly level on top, and therefore it must be built 
up much higher in some places than in others. It will be seen that it 
has a turreted top to protect its defenders, and the inside view will 
show that this turreted portion is much thinner than the rest, so 
that people could walk near the top of the wall. That can be done 
today by going up at one of the gates; but care must be taken not 
to offend householders, as most of the house-roofs are lower than 
the wall. It was a wall to be proud of, and so we find the Jews 
rejoicing over their beautiful city, and saying, "Peace be within thy 
walls, prosperity within thy palaces." Ps. cxxii:7. And in their prayer 
they said, "Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the 
walls of Jerusalem." Ps. li: 18. 



260 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The wall was strengthened at corners and at certain distances 
along its straight lines by what the bible calls "towers," and so we 
read, "Walk about Zion and go round about her; tell the towers 
thereof." Ps. xlviii:12. 

The principal gates were near the middle of the sides, and there 
were some others, as we see from the account given by Nehemiah. 
A gate is more than an opening through the wall. It has a right turn 
within it, so that it may be better defended. In a crowded city like 
Jerusalem, with very narrow streets, people who wished to meet 
others to trade or parley went to the gates. There, for instance, 
Absalom sat and spoke to those who came from the country and won 
their hearts to him from his father David; and there prophets took 
their stand to speak to the people. 

It was apparently in Solomon's time that the present line of walls, 
west, north and east, was built, and the eastern wall was then very 
high, rising as it did from the slopes of Moriah and supporting the 
courtyard of the temple. The wall now shows huge stones near the 
ground, evidently of the original work; but we know well the whole 
wall at the southeast angle, because a shaft was sunk by the Ex- 
ploration fund a little way from the wall, and galleries were run to 
it, until at last the shaft was eighty feet down, and then the engineers 
were as low as the base of the wall. There, on one of the lower 
stones, was the red paint still bright, and it showed the marks of 
Hiram's masons, their personal marks as is supposed, and not a 
date or record. 

It was as long ago as 1838 that Dr. Edward Robinson, in tracing 
the wall round the temple court, found certain stones which were 
built in to form the beginning of an arch. This was at the back of the 
temple, where Solomon built a special wall and had a passage over 
to the other hill, Zion. When the engineers were working here they 
calculated the arch, and found the other end underground on the 
side of the valley. 

At one point, on the east, they also got under the wall and found 
a great column, perhaps of Solomon's porch or colonnade, which had 
slipped down as far as it could go. On the bottom of this they again 
saw mason's marks. 

i have said that the south wall does not follow its old line. It 
is now nearly straight and goes across Zion, but formerly it swept 
around its front, making a perfect defense, so that the Jebusites jeered 
at David when he came to capture it. This old wall, however, has been 
completely uncovered recently by the American, Dr. F. J. Bliss, and 
he found towers and gates as on the other sides. He had to go down 
some feet to find the wall, and then dig deeply to uncover it, but at 
one point he found a noble tower by a gate which led out toward 
Bethlehem, and which had been used so long that it had three thres- 
holds, one above another. 

This gate, which is probably the one which Nehemiah called the 
"Valley Gate," was toward the west. When he got along, eastward, 



Outside the Walls of Jerusalem. 



261 



to the turning point, lie found a large gate which was probably what 
Nehemiah called the "Fountain Gate," for it led down to the well 
from which, in the summer, the people still drink. This gate had a 
paved street coming to it from inside the city, and, part of the way 
it was so steep that it was cut in stairs, "the stairs that went down 
from the city of David" (Nehemiah iii:15). The bible is always a 
correct guide to the explorer, as it is in the way of life — to the ex- 
plorer, and to every one — "a light to the feet and a guide to the path" 
(Psalms cxix:105. 

When the fact is seen that the present walls of Jerusalem have no 
military strength, except against an attack of footmen, and when we 
find that the houses now extend beyond the wall on the west and north, 
we may fear lest this mass of building material may be used as the 
pyramid stones were used to build Cairo; but here comes in fortu- 
nately the conservatism of the Moslem, who prefers old things to 
new, and we of America will join with them in this, and will always 
"take pleasure in her stones," Psalms cii:14. 

Friday afternoon we had a donkey ride outside the walls of the city. 
Learning that conveyances of this sort were in waiting, I hurried out to 
make a selection; others also did the same. As the supply was limited, 
each took what he could secure, and I was left Hobson's choice, but had 
reason to be grateful for the miserable looking little animal that fell to my 
lot, for he was very true and sure-footed and took great time as he passed 
through the narrow, stony paths leading up and down and around the 
hills. He seemed very familiar with the roads and doubtless had trav- 
eled them many years. A boy assisted me in mounting and instructed 
me by signs not to use the rem. I became better acquainted with the 
boy with whom I could not speak, and from the Hotel du Pare, opposite 
the northwest corner of the city wall, we passed north by the Russian set- 
tlement. 

The Russian people have done much for modern Jerusalem, one of 
the handsomest parts of the city outside the walls being the collection of 
buildings called the Russian Quadrangle. It is built on an elevation and 
enclosed with high walls, and is entered by three great gates and two 
smaller doors. Within the walls of this enclosure are the buildings of 
the Russian consulate with its lovely garden. A cathedral, a fine hos- 
pital and dispensary, also large hospices, where 3,000 pilgrims can be 
lodged at a time. They have also several schools, one being for Arab 
children. 



262 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Continuing our way, we met with many sorts of people and convey- 
ances going toward the city. A carriage and horses moving rapidly came 
toward us, and forgetting the instructions of the boy, I pulled on the rein 
as I would had I been riding an American donkey, but which brought 
me into great danger, which might have resulted in an accident had not 
the horses been suddenly checked and the boy hurrying quickly to my 
rescue. 

Arriving near the place of the Tombs of the Kings, north of the city, 
we dismounted, and passing down a flight of steps twenty-four in number, 
and 9 yards in width, cut out of the rock, we reached a large, square, 
rock-hewn chamber open to the sky, from which, through a wall of rock 
4 1 -2 feet thick, a passage leads into an open, roofless, rock-hewn court 
much like the other, the latter being 30 yards long and 27 yards wide. 
Along one side of this square are tombs. A large stone stands on its 
rounded side at one side of the door to the entrance, which can be rolled 
before the door, and is an interesting example of the old method prac- 
ticed in the time of Christ of closing the entrance to a tomb. Here we 
were given lighted candles and passed into a close, damp place, divided 
into sepulchral chambers, the walls of each being excavated on all sides 
into niches and shelves for the reception of sarcophagi, which last have 
all disappeared, leaving no trace of inscription which might have helped 
to a certain knowledge of the history of these tombs and of their former 
occupancy. 

At the foot of the steps in the outer court large reservoirs are exca- 
vated in the rock, into which the surface water is conducted by hewn 
channels. Owing to the stratification of the rock, wells do not reach 
water, and the city is dependent upon rain stored in cisterns and reservoirs, 
the largest of which is the pool of Hezekiah. Not far from this place, 
as I passed, I saw through the open door of a dwelling a woman sitting 
on the floor kneading bread between her feet. As I had little opportu- 
nity in the short time I was there to learn of the domestic life and habits 
of the people, I cannot say whether this is the general custom of bread 
making or not. 



Outside the Walls of Jerusalem. 



265 



A short distance to the north are the Tombs of the Judges, so named 
from a Jewish tradition, that in these members of the Sanhedrim were 
laid to rest. All the hillsides around Jerusalem abound in caverns, 
either natural or excavated, which have served at different periods of their 
history as sepulchers for the dead, as homes for hermits or as refuges for 
the frightened inhabitants in periods of danger. The number of tombs 
and other burial places is astonishing. It is the chief desire of many at 
the present time, as well as in time past, to lie, when dead, near the city 
of Jerusalem. It is a good place, however, to be forgotten, for the num- 
ber who lie here are legion. If all who are interred within these sur- 
roundings arise at the sounding of the trumpet in the resurrection morning, 
what a vast spectacle it will present! 

When leaving the tombs, another group of tourists passed, from 
which our guide recalled some of our party from joining by mistake. 
We followed a very good road leading to the Damascus gate. Jesus, in 
passing to and from Galilee, must have traveled the same road many 
times. 

In a hillside not far from this road is a cavern called the Grotto of 
Jeremiah, where he is said to have written his Book of Lamentations. 
In a rocky, uneven, walled enclosure, containing trees and flowers, is a 
garden, in one side of which is a rock-hewn tomb. This may have been 
the garden and tomb described in St. John, xix., 41 : "Now in the 
place where he was crucified, there was a garden ; and in the garden a 
new sepulcher, wherein was never man laid." In this tomb Joseph of 
Arimathea and Nicodemus may have laid the body of Jesus, and where 
Mary Magdalene came very early one morning afterward and saw with- 
in two angels; also came James and John to find not the body of Jesus 
there. And near the road on an eminence close by, in a conspicuous 
place, just outside the city wall, may be the Golgotha, the Calvary men- 
tioned in the gospels, the place where Christ was crucified. These places 
fulfill all the essential conditions described so many years ago; and here, 
undisturbed, one can make the facts of the crucifixion, burial and resur- 
rection seem real. This place is now known as Gordon's Calvary, which 
was thought by him and by scholars and investigators to be the probable 



266 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



site of the crucifixion. This opinion is growing in favor with many, but 
for many years the site was supposed to be within the present wall, where 
now stands the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. 

East of the Damascus gate there is an entrance through the founda- 
tion of the city wall, to caverns known as Solomon's quarries, from which 
it is said that the stones for Solomon's temple were hewn. The Jews 
call it Zedekiah's Cave," from a tradition that through it that unfortu- 
nate king endeavored to escape from the Chaldeans who were besieging 
Jerusalem. At the entrance we were given lighted candles, and follow- 
ing our guide we began to explore this great excavation. All went well 
until a woman fell, she hardly knew where, till she reached the ground 
five or six feet below. Her husband, with lighted candle in hand, looked 
with anxiety to see where she had fallen, when he too followed. Except 
dusty clothing, no serious accident occurred. With lights near our path, 
we followed our guide more closely, however, and I thought of the word 
of God being ' as a lamp to our path and a light to our feet" as we pass 
through this ofttimes dark and rugged life. This cavern is a lofty and 
curious quarry of the remotest antiquity, in which the workmen, dead 
perhaps thirty centuries ago, left some of their work unfinished, exhibiting 
to this later age their methods of operating, and showing how the original 
Jerusalem was built. The rock roof is sustained by large pillars. The 
quarry extends under a large part of the city. 

Passing near the northeast part of the city, we descend along a steep 
path across the brook Kedron, in the upper part of the valley Jehosha- 
phat, to the foot of mount of Olives, where we left the donkeys in charge 
of our boys, and continued the way up a walled lane. Near the wall as 
we entered, were several lepers, who entreated us most piteously for alms. 
They seemed of all humanity the most miserable, for material aid would 
avail but little. I thought of the pity of Christ for such, and questioned 
if they so near this sacred place had ever heard of the Great Physician, 
the Balm of Gilead, the only real remedy and solace for their distress 
and misery, and hoped that by some means Christ would be revealed to 
them. 



Outside the Walls of Jerusalem. 



267 



Between these walls and the valley is a small garden enclosed by 
fences of cypress, and containing several ancient olive trees, as well as 
some well kept flower beds. One of the monks who have this place in 
charge gave us some pansies which he himself chose to gather. The place 
where Christ prayed when the apostles were asleep is marked, and also 
is shown the place where Christ was betrayed by Judas. But the moun- 
tain is at least a genuine place, and in all probability this is the site of the 
garden of Gethsemane, where Christ and the apostles resorted. It is a 
plot of ground 1 60 by 150 feet, surrounded by a high stone wall, through 
which is a low gate, where one must stoop to enter. Inside of the wall is 
a walk five or six feet wide ; on the inner side of this walk is a high picket 
fence enclosing the eight old and gnarled olive trees, which, it is claimed 
by some, have been growing there since the time of Christ; but this is 
hardly credible, since the besom of destruction, which has many times 
swept over Jerusalem, must have torn the old trees down — these may 
have grown up from the old roots. All among the olive trees little flower 
gardens are planted by the monks, one of whom is always there to gather 
flowers for visitors. 

Recrossing the valley, we continued our way about the southeast 
part of the city on the narrow path near the edge of a steep hill over a 
very rough, uneven, stony road, large rocks often dividing the path. The 
boys beating the donkeys to get ahead, made it interesting at least to 
them. I remonstrated that my donkey should not be beaten, when the 
boy desisted somewhat, probably thinking of the bakshish he might not 
receive. We pass the Golden Gate to the right, and across the brook 
Kedron to the left are the tombs of Absalom, St. James and Zachariah. 
The tomb of Absalom is somewhat demolished. In memory of Absa- 
lom's disobedience to David, his father, it is customary with the Jews to 
pelt his monument with stones as they pass by. 

The mount of Scandal rises to the right of the mount of Olives. On 
this hill once stood the gorgeous and extensive palaces built by King 
Solomon for his immense harem. Very conspicuous from a distance, it 
now presents a long line of well built residences. On the slope of this 
mountain we pass the village of Siloam, which is inhabited by Arabs, 



268 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

many of whose dwellings are natural caves which for many centuries 
served as storehouses for plunder and provender, as stables or dwelling 
houses, as cnapels for prayer or as tombs, but which for the last two cen- 
turies have been converted to their present use, forming a considerable part 
of the existing Arabian village. As we pass there is shown the pool of 
Siloam, from which the water was brought in a golden pitcher with impos- 
ing ritual to the temple on the last great day of the feast, and probable the 
same pool to which Jesus sent the man who was blind from his birth, to 
wash after he had anointed his eyes with clay. We had sung "By cool 
Siloam's shady nil, how fair the lily grows," and had imagined it a 
place of comfort and beauty almost heavenly. The writer of those lines 
had probably never been to Jerusalem and seen the pool of Siloam. For 
at the present time it is a very uninviting place, with little or no shade, 
and into which is carried the sewage of the city. 

Through Dung gate, in the south wall, we entered the Jewish quarter 
of the city, also the poorest part. In an old wall of the southwest part of 
the temple area is "Robinson's Arch," so called from its discoverer. It 
is supposed that this arch was one end of a bridge leading from the temple 
on Mount Moriah over the ravine to Solomon's palace of Mount Zion. 
Farther to the north by this same ancient wall is the Jews' wailing place, 
where Friday afternoons the Jews come to lament over the desolation of 
their city, and pray for its restoration. Jews are not allowed to pass be- 
fore the church of the Holy Sepulcher ; they have crucified Christ. This 
is an unwritten law passed and enforced by the less civilized elements of 
the Christian body in Jerusalem, and they are still also rigorously excluded 
by their own religious scruples from the Moslem enclosure, where stood 
their King Solomon's temple in all its glory. But in this retired place on 
the outside wall of the harem is the only spot where the children of Israel 
congregate freely to gaze at, to touch, and to weep over the old stones 
hewn and laid here by their great ancestors. The foul, obscure entrance 
to this place, through a narrow lane, is a fit type of the abject misery of 
their race here as elsewhere. 

Jews of all countries and of all degrees come here, rich and poor, 
men and women, bringing with them their bibles, which they place in 



Olive Tree in the Garden of GetJisemane. 



Outside the Walls of Jerusalem. 



271 



the crevices between the massive stones, or hold in their hands, and from 
them read aloud the story of their former glorious days, confessing their 
sins with tears and loud lamentations, reciting touching prayers, and call- 
ing upon "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" to remember and 
fulfill his ancient promises to his chosen people. This Friday afternoon 
the greater number were women, and not all gave evidence of sincere 
and self forgetful worship. Some get their living out of it, being em- 
ployed in behalf of absent Jews who send contributions, and who forward 
nails to be driven into the cracks in the walls, which crevices now contain 
very many. Many of the people, no doubt, are genuine in their devo- 
tions and are thus educated from childhood, and are looking forward for 
temporal blessings at least, soon to be bestowed. 

Near the Armenian church and monastery we ascend outside stone 
steps to an ancient building, in which is the traditional "large, upper 
room," where the disciples made ready the passover, and where they 
ate and drank with their master for the last time when he gave them an 
example in humility and talked with them a long time, comforting and 
encouraging them for what was to follow. This room is also said to be 
the chamber in which the apostles were assembled when they received the 
miraculous gift of tongues, when, being "all with one accord in one place, 
suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, 
and it filled all the house where they were sitting; and there appeared 
unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, 
and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other 
tongues, as the spirit gave them utterance." In a vault under this build- 
ing are said to be the tombs of David and Solomon, which few are 
permitted to inspect closely. 

Outside and close by the Zion gate is a well kept Armenian church, 
which, with its adjoining monastery, is said to be built on the site of the 
house of Caiaphas, the high priest. In it is shown the cell in which Jesus 
is said to have passed the night before the crucifixion, and the disciples 
are supposed to have hid not far from him. In the same church is 
preserved a stone, now used as an altar stone, on which the astonished 



272 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



tourist is bidden to observe the impression of the foot of the cock which 
crowed when Peter denied his Lord. 

Entering the Armenian quarter through Zion gate, we continued the 
way to the bazaars near Jaffa gate, where we were recognized by many 
of our party. Reaching the Hotel de Pare, we dismounted and were sur- 
rounded, one would suppose by the number, by all the boys of the city, 
demanding bakshish. My boy, however, appeared well satisfied with 
what I paid him, though another pleaded industriously for bakshish also. 

So ended an eventful day of sightseeing; one never to be forgotten. 
Though many of these places are merely traditional, yet some, as to their 
genuineness, are located by intelligent investigation and research. The 
privilege for observation of these scenes is more to one than any tongue or 
pen is able to portray. 




Lepers by the Wayside. 



19 



Jericho and Valley of Jordan. 



275 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Jericho and the Valley of the Jordan. 

The morning after we arrived in Jerusalem a company of about 
thirty carriages started to go down to Jericho and the Jordan. We 
drove around the northeast wall of Jerusalem between the city and the 
mount of Olives. At St. Stephen's gate we waited near the rock which 
marks the traditional place where he was stoned. One would judge that 
it is yet a place of violence. A man and woman refusing to step aside 
for carriages to pass, a fight ensued, and though the blood flowed freely 
the man persisted stoutly to hold his position and defend himself. Our 
carriages were besieged by beggars, the faces of some I can never forget, 
so old and furrowed, and weather beaten were they. The slope down 
which we descended was lined by lepers, who ran along beside us and 
thrust their diseased hands into our carriages, demanding bakshish. 
Their cry, "Lipra! Lipra!" is pathetic, querulous, insistent. It is hard 
to pity them, so repulsive are they, so needless in their beggary, and so 
repellant is their method of extorting alms. One has constant need to 
remind himself that Jesus had compassion upon the leper. There is no 
greater proof of his tenderness than his attitude toward these wretched 
outcasts. There are homes provided for lepers, and none of these people 
need beg; but they are fond of begging and exercise this privilege outside 
the city walls. We hope that in time a better condition of government 
will compel them to remain in quarantine, for so only can the disease be 
eradicated. 

We pass the walled up Golden gate of the temple, through which in 
crusading times a great procession with palm branches, headed by the 
patriarch riding on an ass, used to pass every year on Palm Sunday. 
Around the brow of the hill, on the other side from Jerusalem, we pass 
the village of Bethany, near which is a spring known as the Apostles* 



276 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



spring, so named from the tradition that the apostles rested there. The 
springs of Palestine are its most certainly authenticated spots. If this 
spring existed in the time of Christ, it is perfectly safe to assume that the 
apostles and Christ himself made use of it, and drank of its waters. 

In a hillside below Jerusalem, quarried out of the steep rock, was a 
large modern slaughter house, and from it is carried to the city, on the 
backs of donkeys, hides, dressed meats and even entire carcasses. Mut- 
ton is much used in Palestine and in all countries of the East, but swine 
flesh is a rarity. We pass a few mud dwellings; the children come out 
to see us and to ask for bakshish; boys follow along by the carriages, 
executing wheelside somersaults, and for the performance of this unsolic- 
ited feat they demand bakshish. 

We realize that the road over which we travel leads us an exceed- 
ingly downward course. We remember that the city of Jerusalem is 
nearly 6,200 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and the Dead 
Sea nearly 1 ,300 feet below, and that in less than twenty minutes we 
make a descent of nearly 4,000 feet, while we could see our road in the 
distance far below, winding ahead of us like a white ribbon. All ap- 
pearance of human habitation ceases to exist. The fine, light dust fills 
our eyes and covers our clothing. We are entering a very desolate re- 
gion, with nothing but gray and brown barren hills as far as the eye can 
see. 

Midway between Jerusalem and Jericho we rested our horses and 
ourselves at the "Inn of the Good Samaritan," a welcome shelter erected 
at the point where it was supposed that that inn of old stood, to which 
was brought the "certain man who was going down from Jerusalem to 
Jericho," and who fell among robbers and was left half dead until a 
certain Samaritan saw him, who was moved with compassion and bound 
up his wounds, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn. 
The inn is an unpretentious stone structure, with a large court in the rear. 
Within, pictures, postal cards and strange mementos of the place may 
be purchased. There are knives and swords and other ancient weapons 
that doubtless have been used by thieves along this same road, for the 
highway still retains its old reputation. We were told that three broth- 



Tomb of Lazarus, Bethany. 



Jericho and Valley of Jordan. 



279 



ers became so desperate and efficient that they gained the monopoly of 
the road, and were greatly feared by other Bedouins, but are now em- 
ployed by the Turkish government to protect the way, one of whom ac- 
companied us at this time. He was heavily armed and rode a fiery steed 
back and forth at great speed. Till of late this trip was considered 
dangerous, but a company so protected makes the journey in safety. 

Leaving our carriages, we waited about thirty minutes, and at the left 
climb a steep eminence, from which over gray barren hills we can see a 
long, deep chasm, whose opposite walls rise almost perpendicularly to a 
great height. Along the base of this are homes of hermits which are 
mere caves in the rock. But the convent of St. George is a built struc- 
ture, and seems quite picturesque as it stands at the foot of a high wall 
near the head of the ravine. Near this ravine, or brook Cherith, it is 
said "Elijah dwelt in accordance to the word of the Lord, and the ravens 
brought bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the even- 
ing, and he drank of the brook." There is no doubt that this wild, deso- 
late place furnished a safe hiding place from his enemy Ahab. Elijah's 
faith in God's protecting and providing care was great to enable him to 
live many months entirely on his word and in this indescribable wilder- 
ness of more than loneliness. 

This ravine is also known as the ' Valley of Achan," the scene of 
the tremendous punishment of Achan by Joshua for his sin when he took 
"the accursed things," consisting of a Babylonian garment, 200 shekels 
of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels' weight, in disregard of the 
command that nothing should be taken from Jericho but the silver and 
gold and vessels of brass and iron which should come in to the treasury of 
the Lord. This ravine marks a portion of the boundary "of the tribe of 
the children of Judah" described by Joshua." 

We have been passing through the wilderness of Judea. If we had 
supposed that anything seen before in Palestine might properly be called 
the wilderness, we now discover our mistake. We have seen nothing 
desolate enough to belong in the same class with this. A more worth- 
less, dreary, forlorn bit of landscape can neither be found nor imagined. 
It is broken into bare hills and silent, uninhabited valleys, which extend 



280 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

beyond, and still beyond as far as the eye can reach. If anyone imagines 
the wilderness to be a forest or jungle, he is in error, it being none other 
than a place of absolute sterility, whose every scrap of arable soil has long 
since been washed away by heavy rains, and whose barren subsoil is baked 
and parched by the sun. What little suggestion of vegetation one dis- 
covers partakes of the same tawny hue of the rocks and earth. A large 
and sterile plain next to the uplands gives way to luxuriant vegetation 
near the river. As we near Jericho the descent is more abrupt, till sud- 
denly we enter on a more level tract. To the right, a little above the 
surface, we observed the remaining walls of ancient structures. Consid- 
erable vegetation is apparent; a short distance has brought a marked 
change. As we approach the village our carriages stop near a garden; 
a man came out and distributed tickets designating the name of the hotel 
in which we will find accommodation. I was to stop at the Gilgal, and 
my carnage mates elsewhere. Before leaving the carriage we pass the 
Gilgal and are conveyed through a village of small mud and stone houses, 
to Ehsha's fountain, and we are followed persistently by scantily clothed 
children, with outstretched hands, asking for bakshish. The driver 
whips at them, and for a moment they fall behind the carnage, only to 
renew the effort with greater zeal than before. On and on they fol- 
lowed, till one would think their strength would fail. They appear, 
however, to enjoy the exercise, and I questioned whether the begging was 
not a mere habit with them, or, at least, a pleasant occupation. 

Elisha, after parting with Elijah, returned from across the Jordan 
to Jericho, "and the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray 
thee, the situation of the city is pleasant, as my lord seeth ; but the water 
is naught, and the ground barren; and he said, Bring me a new cruse, 
and put salt therein ; and they brought it to him, and he went forth unto 
the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith 
the Lord, I have healed these waters ; there shall not be from thence any 
more death or barren land; so the waters were healed unto this day, 
according to the saymg of Elisha which he spake." 

About fifteen minutes' drive from Jericho, we stop at Elisha's foun- 
tain, where there is a perpetual spring of cool, clear water, which supplies 



I 



© 
Si 





f 




Jericho and Valley of Jordan. 



283 



the villagers with drink. It is also used for irrigating purposes. The ancient 
town of Jericho, whose walls fell flat at the sound of the trumpets of 
Joshua and the shouting of the people when they had compassed the 
city seven times, stood beside Elisha's spring, and some ruins, supposed to 
have formed part of it, are to be seen there. 

After a lunch, which possessed the same oriental olive oil flavor as 
the food at Tiberias, we were to continue our way to the Dead sea and 
the Jordan, to be conveyed by the same carriages in which we came. 
Carriage after carriage drove from the Gilgal, but neither our carriage 
nor driver was to be seen. And I was the only one of our party who 
remained. Fearing the strange looking people about, I returned to the 
hotel, but there was no one there with whom I could speak. After wait- 
ing some time, I went out again and met a native guide, who waited 
a long time, apparently unable to understand English, or perhaps to 
receive bakshish. He finally suggested that I follow him, which I did 
rather fearfully, as he led the way into narrow lanes and by old buildings, 
which were probably used as stables, when we came to an enclosure, 
in which with gladness I saw our driver sitting by the carriage eating 
his lunch. We had been among the latest to arrive, and consequently 
were the last to start out. My carriage mates arriving, we were soon 
on our way. 

A short distance out we pass Bedouin camps with their low flat 
tents made of dark brown goat's hair. We pass them hurriedly and 
are followed for some distance by scantily clothed young men and 
women, the lowest type of human beings imaginable. Unlike the inno- 
cent children by whom we are so frequently solicited, or the pathetic 
aged beggar at St. Stephen's gate, their faces indicate vileness, treachery 
and viciousness. 

The valley is nearly 1 ,300 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, 
and is said to be the greatest depression not covered with water existing 
on the earth's surface. The hot, dry day was very depressing, and as 
we passed over the desert plain around and among the hills and mounds 
and the pale tan dunes of grotesque and fantastic shapes, the sifting 
sands immediately concealed the carriage wheel track and our faces 



284 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



and clothing were covered with dust. As we approach the sea the air 
has a strong, salty odor; the sea water is exquisitely blue and brilliantly 
clear, most tempting for a bath after the hot ride; but it is so heavily 
saturated with salt as to make swimming a difficult feat. This fact 
was apparent, as several were endeavoring to swim, perhaps, but really 
were floating near the surface but partially submerged, like so many 
buoys or corks unable to sink, had they so desired. I bathed my hands 
and face in its waters, which seemed somewhat oily, though soft and 
pleasant to the skin, but it leaves white spots of salt upon any clothing 
on which it may fall. Cups, small plates and other articles made from 
black stone, found in this vicinity, are sold as souvenirs. 

With its pebbly beach the sea itself is beautiful to see, but its sur- 
roundings are most desolate, partially surrounded by mountains vith no 
sign of habitation or vegetation. Because no fresh water is available 
there are no living creatures in the Dead sea, and but few birds about 
the shore. It is said that small boats sail on its waters, but none were in 
sight the day we were there. Much water flows into this sea daily, and 
as much evaporates, leaving what remains heavily charged with mineral 
substances. The water contains from 24 to 26 per cent, of solid matter, 
of which 7 per cent, is salt. 

Re-entering our carriages, we drove for several miles through a 
plain of sifting or sinking sand, that as we passed appeared to change 
places, and which recalled to my remembrance the lines, "On Christ, 
the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand." 

As we approach the Jordan, vegetation is more evident, first shrubs 
of a scanty growth, then a narrow belt of forest, principally composed 
of tamarisk trees, skirted the bank. We had very recently viewed scenes 
undemonstrative, desolate and expansive. We looked with pleasure 
and admiration upon this wild, turbulent stream confined into its narrow 
bed, skirted with vegetation, but like Naaman, who asked, "Are not 
Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better?" we preferred other 
streams to the muddy Jordan. But as we stand by this stream we think 
of the children of Israel who stood on its oppostie bank, waiting to 
cross its waters to the land of promise, and of the river as a symbol of 



Jericho and Valley of Jordan. 



287 



the passing of this life and the inheritance awaiting those who "abide 
in God's word." As I view the Jordan, words committed to memory 
so long ago come to me: 

On Jordan's stormy bank I stand, 

And cast a wishful eye 
To Canaan's fair and happy land, 

Where my possessions lie. 

O, the transporting rapturous scene 

That rises to my sight! 
Sweet fields arrayed in living green, 

And rivers of delight. 

O'er all those wide extended plains 

Shines one eternal day; 
There God the sun forever reigns 

And scatters night away. 

No chilling winds or poisonous breath 

Can reach that beauteous shore; 
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death, 
Are felt and feared no more. 

Some 1,700 feet above the level of the Mediterranean sea, up 
among the mountains of Palestine, a score or more of springs bubble up 
into a deep pool, from which a little stream flows down the slopes. 
From its source on Mount Hermon the stream flows downward through 
thickets and canebrakes, and is joined by other streams from the moun- 
tains, the united waters descending by cascades 1 ,000 feet in a dozen 
miles. Through great swamps, where grows the plumy papyrus, the 
Jordan flows into the Muleh lake, and from there, with a fall of more 
than 700 feet in a trifle over ten miles into the sea of Galilee. From 
the sea of Galilee its course is still downward, but with a slope that 
grows gradually less, until it passes into a sunken channel, called the 
Zor Here. The river is almost hidden from sight by a dense jungle of 
cane, willow and feathery tamarac growing along the water's edge. 
The last few miles of its course the river flows through a muddy flat, 
where the jungle ceases and then the stream, which had its birth in the 
clear, sweet springs of the mountains, flows into the Dead sea. 



288 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



I looked upon a sea, 

And, lo! 'twas dead, 
Although by Hermon's snows 

And Jordan fed. 

How came a fate so dire? 

The tale's soon told; 
All that it got it kept, 

And fast did hold. 

All tributary streams 

Found here their grave, 
Because this sea received, 

But never gave. 

Oh sea that's dead, teach me 

To know and feel 
That selfish grasp and greed 

My doom will seal. 

And, Lord, help me my best, 

Myself, to give, 
That I may others bless, 

And, like thee, live. 

— Rev. W. P. Finney. 

The course of the Jordan is entirely below the level of the sea, and 
its gorge is so hot and unhealthy that no village exists along its banks, 
save near its mouth. It is so rapid and narrow as to be wholly unused 
for commercial purposes. Instead, therefore, of uniting the regions 
through which it passes, it makes an almost impassable barrier between 
Palestine proper and the regions on the other side. The distance in a 
straight line from the sea of Galilee to the Dead sea is about sixty 
miles, but is increased, by many windings of the stream, to nearly 200 
miles. Inhabitants and travelers being few, the wild beasts here have 
almost their own way. 

But it is not what the Jordan is at the present time that makes the 
river famed the world over, but for its part in the history of the Holy 
Land; the inheritance of the children of Israel, God's chosen people. 

. . There is a land of pure delight, 

Where saints immortal reign; 
Infinite day excludes the night, 
And pleasures banish pain. 

There everlasting spring abides, 

And never withering flowers; 
Death, like a narrow sea, divides 

This heavenly land from ours. 



Jericho and Valley of Jordan. 



289 



Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood 

Stand dressed in living green; 
So to the Jews old Canaan stood, 

While Jordan rolled between. 

When the children of Israel were about to enter the land of promise 
the Jordan proved a dividing line or barrier across which Moses, their 
leader, for forty years was permitted to see from Mount Nebo before 
he died. 

Could we but climb where Moses stood, 

And view the landscape o'er, 
Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood, 

Should fright us from the shore. 

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 

Get the up into this mountain Abarim, unto Mount Nebo, which 
is the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land 
of Canaan which I give unto the children of Israel for possession; 

And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto 
thy people. 

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab, unto the mountain 
of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho, and the 
Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto him. 

And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and 
all the land of Judeah, unto the utmost sea. 

And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city 
of palm trees, unto Zoar. 

And the Lord said unto him, This is the valley which I swear unto 
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy 
seed. I have caused thee to see it with thy eyes, but thou shalt 
not go over thither. 

So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there, in the land of Moab, 
according to the word of the Lord. 

And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against 
Bethpeor; but no man knoweth of his sephulcher unto this day." 

By Nebo's lonely mountain, 

On this side Jordan's wave, 
In a vale in the land of Moab, 

There lies a lonely grave; 
And no man knows that sepulcher, 

And no man saw it e'er, 
For the angels of God upturned the sod. 

And laid the dead man there. 



20 



290 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Noiselessly as the springtime 

Her crown of verdure weaves, 
And all the trees on all the hills 

Open their thousand leaves; 
So without sound of music, 

Or voice of them that wept, 
Silently down from the mountain's crown 

The great procession swept. 

Perchance the bald old eagle 

On gray Beth-peor's heights, 
Out of his lonely eyrie, 

Looked on the wondrouse sight! 
Perchance the lion, stalking, 

Still shuns that hallowed spot, 
For beast and bird have seen and heard 

That which man knoweth not. 

In that strange grave without a name, 

Whence his uncomned clay 
Shall break again, O wondrous thought! 

Before the judgment day, 
And stand with glory wrapped around 

On the hills he never trod, 
And speak of the strife that won our life 

With the incarnate son of God. 

O lonely grave, in Moab's land! 

O dark Beth-peor's hill! 
Speak to these curious hearts of ours, 

And teach them to be still. 
God hath his mysteries of grace, 

Ways that we cannot tell; 
He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep 

Of him he loved so well. 

The hosts of Israel are across the river waiting in intense expecta- 
tion of the fulfillment of a hope, on which they have been living for 

forty years. Jehovah appoints Joshua their leader, charging him to 

"Be strong and of good courage; for unto this people shalt thou divide 

for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them." 

Joshua assumes the responsibility and sends out spies to Jericho to view 

the land, and commands the people to prepare food for the journey; 

also instructing the mighty men of valor of the tribe of the Reubenites, 

Gadites and the half tribe of Menasseh, who had possessions east of the 

Jordan, to leave their families and cattle, and assist their brethren till 

the lord gave them rest. The ark, borne by priests, should precede the 



Jericho and Valley of Jordan. 



293 



people, a man from each of the twelve tribes carrying a stone from the 
Jordan to Gilgal, the place where they lodged that night, as memorials 
to their children that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the 
ark of the covenant of the lord. Here the manna ceased. They were to 
live off of the fat of the land. 

The Canaanites were terrified at their approach, for they knew that 
the God of hosts was with them. The city of Jericho was compassed 
and destroyed, and the children of Israel took possession of the land. 

And then come down through 1,500 years of Israel's fluctuating 
record, and hear, after 400 years of religious stagnation, "The voice 
of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make 
his paths straight." See the crowds pushing their way through that 
stinging, alkali wilderness all the way from "Jerusalem, and all Judea, 
and all the region round about the Jordan," confessing their sins, and 
seeking the baptism of this prophet in camel's hair and leather girdle. 
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptised 
of him," and after the prophet, whom all the world was seeking, had per- 
formed the rite which he knew was the beginning of his own diminishing 
and self effacement, while the other should increase, the voice which 
Moses had heard, as he looked across the river upon the promised land, 
spoke in testimony to the sonship of Jesus of Nazareth, who came to 
save the people whom Moses had tried to save. 

That Jordan baptism marked the beginning of the final campaign for 
the saving of the world, and in the people who had crossed the river 
and conquered Jericho for Jehovah the world has been blessed. May 
the blessing return upon the people and the land. 

We are greatly favored at this time with the opportunity to view 
the Jordan, and very probably the place where these events occurred. It 
is not without reason that tradition has located the scene of John's 
baptising at this ford of the Jordan, for, although we have no knowledge 
of the site of Beth-Abara, this spot has been the one which pilgrims 
have sought for remote ages, and for centuries it has been esteemed a 
high privilege to be baptised in Jordan. Several of our party were 
baptised in its waters. 



294 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The stream is very rapid, and great care is needed if one enters it. 
It is also very muddy, and water taken from the river quickly spoils un- 
less it is boiled on clarified. A single rowboat is maintained at the ford, 
and its owner gives tourists a brief ride on the Jordan for about a franc. 
A little southeast of us, on the other side of the Jordan, on the hills of 
Perea, siood the castle of Machaerus, in which John suffered martyrdom. 

On the return to Jericho we pass an ancient mosque, called Nebby 
Mousa, sacred to the prophet Moses, whither devout Moslems resort 
in large numbers at Eastertide, bearing in stately procession a certain 
most holy banner from the mosque of Omar, whose departure from 
Jerusalem and return thither is honored by the attendance in state of the 
governor and his suite of nobles, with a large military escort. For several 
miles leading from the mosque was an aqueduct along whose course 
we followed a short distance. 

Our guide promised to take us by the traditional site of Gilgal, where 
the twelve memorial stones, taken from the Jordan, were placed. But 
the darkness of evening excluded the view. The site of the city may 
not be authentic, and we do not doubt the number of stones to be seen 
there, as stones are very numerous in all parts of Palestine. 

Jericho was formerly called the city of palms. A tree near Jericho 
is shown to the curious tourist as the one Zacchaeus climbed, he being 
small of stature, to see Jesus; and it was in this city that Jesus treated 
the blind beggar. 

3 Blind Bartimeus at the gates 

Of Jericho, in darkness, waits; 
He hears the crowd; he hears a breath 
Say, "It is Christ of Nazareth." 

The thronging multitudes increase; 
Blind Bartimeus, hold thy peace! 
But still, above the noisy crowd, 
The beggar's cry is shrill and loud; 
Until they say, "He calleth thee." 

Then saith the Christ, as silent stands 
The crowd, "What wilt thou at my hands?" 
And he replies, "O give me light! 
Rabbi, restore the blind man's sight." 



js- 



Jericho and Valley of Jordan. 



297 



We returned to Jericho tired and dusty, sometime after darkness had 
set in, and at this late dinner hour relished much the delicious oranges 
with which we were abundantly supplied, and which in the orient are 
ofttimes the most desirable food. I occupied a room alone for the first 
time since leaving New York city. Steps lead up to the veranda in front 
of my door, which did not lock, and strange and fierce looking people 
passed before it. I thought to ask for another room, but remained and 
enjoyed a good night's sleep in peace and safety. When afterward, 
learning of the marvelous experiences and conditions of others, I con- 
cluded that I was wise in retaining the haven of rest my room proved 
to be. 

Jericho today is a wretched little mud village, and I am not much 
given to gossip, or I would tell of its people. While in Palestine, observ- 
ing the life of the people, and especially that of the women, I often had 
reason to be grateful for the favorable conditions that had surrounded 
my life, and longed greatly to assist these people in some way, to a 
better life. 

Rising early the next morning, we continued our way back toward 
Jerusalem. We ofttimes walked up steep hills to lighten the burden, 
and realized that it was a long, long way and a hard climb going to 
Jerusalem. As Jesus traveled this way shortly before his death, he 
took his twelve disciples apart in the way and told them of his death 
and crucifixion. Jesus did not confine his services alone to the west side 
of the Jordan. We read in Matthew, chapter xix., that he departed 
from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judea beyond the Jordan, 
and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there, convers- 
ing with the people and with his disciples, teaching them of the kingdom 
of heaven. 

To the right, as we ascend, can be seen Mount Quarantana, the 
reputed scene of Christ's temptation, now honey-combed with the caves 
of hermits. Behind, and to the left, were the hills of Moab. In the 
distance rose Mount Nebo, from which Moses is said to have viewed 
the promised land, and where he died. 



298 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



On our return we stopped again at the Inn of the Good Samaritan 
for a longer time, and as we neared Jerusalem met others of our party 
on their way to Jericho. They smiled in fond anticipation, and we 
smiled in return, knowing what was in store for them, for it is an exceed- 
ingly hard trip to Jericho and the Jordan. But in spite of the long 
rough ride, the poor hotel accommodations, the dust and the heat, the 
fleas and the beggars, we would not have missed looking upon the 
place associated with so many biblical events and scenes relating to 
Christ's life on earth. 



Bethlehem. 



301 



CHAPTER XX. 

Bethlehem, Where Angels Sang, and the Ancient City; of Hebron. 

O little town of Bethlehem, 
How still we see thee lie. 
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep 
The silent stars go by. 

Yet in thy dark streets shineth 

The everlasting light; 
The hopes and fears of all the years 

Are met. in thee tonight. 

O holy child of Bethlehem, 

Descend to us, we pray; 
Cast out our sin and enter in, 

Be born in us today. 

We hear the Christmas angels 

The great glad tidings tell. 
O come to us, abide with us, 

Our Lord Emanuel. 

Bethlehem, about five miles from Jerusalem, is easily reached by 
carriage. The way leads over a good road, and takes one through 
a fruitful region, much more interesting than that in which Jerusalem 
is situated. The village stands on an elevation, and is conspicuous 
and inviting. 

I had thought much of the visit to Bethlehem, and desired greatly 
to view its hills, shrines and surroundings. From the Hotel du Pare 
we pass the Jaffa gate and descend into the valley of Hinnom. On 
our left is the citadel of David and the spur of Mount Zion, on our 
right the lower pool of Gihon, and in the bed of the valley were 
"drawers of water" at the fountain recently connected with Solomon's 
pools. 

Climbing the hill, we pass the ophthalmic hospital of the Knights 
of St. John. A little farther, as we look across the valley of Hin- 
nom and the wilderness of Judea to the mountains of Moab, we see 



v. 



302 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



in the distance a picture that presents a scene of fertility, barrenness 
and grandeur combined. We are shown an isolated tree, an oak 
with branches all turned eastward by the prevailing winds; it is the 
traditional tree where "Judas went and hanged himself" Matthew 
xxvii. :5. 

We crossed the plain of Rephaim, now a grain field dotted over 
with olive groves. Near here David gained the victory over the Phi- 
listines, the "sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees" being 
the signal for attack. II Samuel v:24. 

At the foot of a slight ascent is an old rockhewn cistern covered 
by a large stone. In its water, tradition says, the wise men saw the 
reflection of the star. From the top of the slope we see Bethlehem, 
the birthplace of Christianity, situated on a long range of hills. We 
are in the way of Mary and Joseph and millions of others, whose 
desire has been to visit this Judean town. The valley sides are ter- 
raced and green with vines and trees. Soon we reach on our right a 
large domed building, Rachel's tomb, for "Rachel died and was 
buried in the way to Ephrata, which is Bethlehem" Genesis xxxv:19. 
Hither resorted the Jews to weep over and pray for the "mother of 
their nation." Bedouins bring their dead to be buried near here. The 
place is revered alike by Jews, Mohammedans and Christians. The 
identity of the tomb has not been disputed, for throughout all of the 
whole Christian period and for many generations before its commence- 
ment, the same tradition has been connected with the spot. 

On the western slope is the traditional home of Saul, Israel's first 
king, I Samuel ix. A little farther on we reached Bethlehem, and 
entering the town, pass on the left a large cistern, or well, for which 
"David longed and said, 'O that one would give me drink of the 
water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate.' And the three 
mighty men break through the host of the Philistines, and drew wa- 
ter out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it 
and brought it to David ; nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but 
poured it out unto the Lord, and said: 'Be it far from me, O Lord, 
that I should do this thing ; is not this the blood of the men that 



Bethlehem. 



305 



went in jeopardy of their lives?' Therefore he would not drink it." 
It is such acts as these that show the man's true greatness, and reveal 
David as he actually was — impulsive, fallible, but warm hearted, gen- 
erous, brave and highminded. 

Bethlehem is noted as the home of Judah's one great dynasty. The 
northern kingdom had kings of many families, but the southern prov- 
ince, after the time of Saul, had only David and his descendants on 
the throne down to the time of the exile. 

Near Bethlehem, also, is shown a cave where Mary is said to 
have stopped and nursed the infant Christ. "Here religious supersti- 
tion reaches its very bottom ; for we are told in all seriousness that 
some drops of the Virgin's milk fell upon the floor of the cave, and 
gave such virtue to the chalky rock that little tablets cut from it en- 
able women to bear male children, and give them an abundance of 
milk. This boon, much desired by mothers in the orient, makes the 
sale of these bits of rock a prolific source of revenue to the pious ras- 
cals who possess the cave." 

Bethlehem is 2,550 feet above the sea level. Its population is 
about 3,000, mostly Catholic and Greek Christians. They are dis- 
tinguished among the surrounding people by their energy and intelli- 
gence, cleanliness and industry, and particularly by the grace and 
beauty of the women. Thev have pleasant faces, erect carriage, full 
chests and well rounded forms. It is supposed that the people are 
of Crusader, Syrian and Saracenic origin. 

Bethlehem has various flourishing industries — the production of 
picturesque and delicately fashioned embroidered dresses, and the larger 
industry of the carving of mother-of-pearl, which is here carried to a 
high degree of artistic and mechanical perfection. Few tourists leave 
without having purchased some of the various articles for sale. Bethle- 
hem is the market of the Dead sea Bedouins, and also of the numerous 
small towns and villages in the vicinity. 

The ed ucation of the people is provided for by several good schools, 
while other educational institutions are maintained by the three mon- 
asteries. That which is of most interest to us is a large complex stone 

21 



306 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



structure called the "Church of the Nativity," which covers the cave 
stable in which it is said Christ was born. This fortress-like edifice 
has survived many vicissitudes, including several sieges, resulting in 
the utler devastation and destruction of the town itself; and its escape 
from ruin was believed at the time to be miraculous. We entered a 
large high hall like room, where a school was in progress. Our guide 
gave us information concerning St. Jerome, who took up his abode 
near the cave of Christ's birthplace, 420 years afterward, and dwelt 
many years, translating the bible into the Vulgate, and who died at 
the age of 92 years. With lighted tapers we were shown down into the 
subterranean vault where the work of translation was accomplished. 

We saw also the traditional place where the children under two 
years of age were cast, Matthew ii:16. A low dark portal admits 
us to the church. At the farther end we descend into the cave that 
contains the manger in which the infant Savior "was laid wrapped in 
swaddling clothes" Luke ii:7. Gold and silver lamps shed a dim 
light over the cavern. 

Prominent, near the manger, is the Mohammedan sentinel, who 
stands there to prevent bloodshed between overzealous Christian pil- 
grims at the shrine of the "Prince of Peace." The high privilege of 
guardianship of the church is divided among the religious bodies of 
Greeks, Armenians and Latins, the Greeks having the lion's share. 
The various divisions of the great church placed under the special care 
of each body are minutely measured and partitioned off with a view 
to avoid causes of quarrel, which sometimes arise from the trivial ques- 
tion as to which party should regulate the opening and closing of a 
door, or the extension of a carpet by one party across an aisle used 
by another, or whether, in coming from the chapel of nativity, they 
may pass out on the other side, or must return by the way they have 
entered. Thus, Turkish guards are stationed to keep the peace, as at 
the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and to prevent, it is 
said, at this sacred place, the Christians from quarreling. 

Retracing our steps, we are taken to the spur of the hill at the 
rear of the church and look across valleys and hills, beautiful in their 



Bethlehem, 



309 



spring attire. We look down on the field of "Boaz, a mighty man 
of wealth, who came from Bethlehem unto the reapers," Ruth ii:1-3, 
and thought, too, as never before, of Ruth who "gleaned in the field 
until eve, and beat out that she had gleaned." 

Beyond, a flock of sheep and goats grazing on the hills, remind 
us that "there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, 
keeping watch over their flocks by night," Luke ii:8. Here the an- 
gelic choir proclaimed ' Glory, peace and good will." 

It came upon the midnight clear, 

That glorious song of old, 

From angels bending near the earth, 

To touch their harps of gold; 

"Peace to the earth, good will to men, 

From heaven's all gracious king." 

The earth in solemn stillness lay, 

To hear the angels sing. 

O ye beneath life's crushing load, 
Whose forms are bending low, 
Who toil along the climbing way, 
With painful steps and slow, 
Look up, for glad and golden hours 
Come swiftly on the wing; 
O rest beside the weary road, 
And hear the angels sing. 

Over these hills, David the Bethlehemite, led the flocks of Jesse, and 
perhaps sang some of his psalms, and later was hunted by Saul. To 
the south we saw the location of the cave of Adullam, famous in 
bible history for its connection with Joshua and David. 

What scenes and history the landscape recalls. No portion of 
Palestine is so full of interest in its communication of Old and New 
Testament associations. A setting sun forced us to return, leaving 
Bethleh em in the prosperity, peace and fascination that attaches to no 
other place in Palestine. 

On our return, our driver let a lady look for oranges which she 
had purchased on the way and left in the carriage, and which he had 
concealed beneath the seat but after a time returned to her. One of 
our number who thought, perchance, there were other sights at Bethle- 
hem that we had not seen, directed the driver to return with us, tell- 



310 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



ing him that he would get no bakshish if he did not. But neither 
threats nor inducement prevailed. We were fortunate in having an 
honest, faithful and steady driver. Many drive with great speed and 
recklessness. A carriage just ahead of ours was upset and much dam- 
aged through such carelessness, but fortunately no one was greatly 
injured. 

I did not go to Hebron, but many of our party visited this an- 
cient historical place, passing by Solomon's pools on the left and 
reaching Hebron several miles toward the south. 

Perhaps, with the exception of Damascus, Hebron is the oldest 
town in existence today. We are told in Numbers xiii:22, that Heb- 
ron was built seven years before Zoar in Egypt. The first scriptural 
reference we have to it is in Genesis xiii : 1 8, where we read : "Abra- 
ham removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, 
which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord." Heb- 
ron means "friendship" or "fellowship," and the Arabic name of the 
town today is El-Khulil (the friend), and is thus named after Abra- 
ham, the friend of God. It was an important place in the early his- 
tory of Abraham, and later of the children of Israel. Here Sarah 
died and was buried in the cave of Machpelah, where in their turn 
Abraham, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were all laid to rest. 
The spies, when they were sent out to visit the land, came to Heb- 
ron and from there took the wonderful bunch of grapes to show the 
fruitfulness of the land. After the Israelites had conquered Heb- 
ron, it was given to Caleb for his faithfulness. Here David was 
twice crowned; first, as king of Judah (II Samuel ii:4) and after 
reigning as such for seven years and six months all the elders of Israel 
came to Hebron and anointed David king over Israel. (II Samuel 
v:3.) 

We have no record of our Lord having visited Hebron during his 
earthly ministry, but we read in Genesis xviii of his visit to Abraham 
there, and recalling him to his reward, also the destruction of Sodom 
and Gomorrah. 



Bethlehem. 



313 



The modern city of Hebron, which lies twenty-two and one-half 
miles south of Jerusalem, has a population of over 20,000 Moham- 
medans and 1,200 or 1,500 Jews, and only some twenty-five native 
Christians. It stands over 3,000 feet above the Mediterranean sea, 
and is still famous for its grapes, there being miles of vineyards all 
around the place. Most of the people are very poor. The principal 
industries are a few small glass factories where they make the colored 
glass bracelets which are so popular among the women and girls of 
the east. They also prepare and tan goat skins (the ancient wine bot- 
tles of the bible), which are mostly used now for carrying water from 
the weils to the homes of the people, and, in the country, for storing 
their oil and "semeny" — native butter used for cooking. These goat 
skins are also used as "churns." The milk is poured into the skin, 
which is then hung upon a sort of tripod and shaken backward and 
forward for hours until the butter comes. Needless to say, such but- 
ter is not the cleanest nor of the best flavor. 

The principal places of interest today are, first, the mosque over 
the cave of Machpelah ; second, the pool of David ; and third, Abra- 
ham's oak. A tew words about each of these may be of interest. 
The "harem" or mosque is built over the cave of Machpelah. This 
was at one time a Byzantine church, although part of the walls are 
said to date from Solomon's time. The walls are solid masonry with- 
out windows, and the building is 200 feet long, 1 1 5 feet wide and 
fifty-eight feet high. There are some very large stones built into the 
walls, one being thirty-eight feet long and three and one-half feet high, 
with the ancient Jewish bevel. This mosque is one of the most sacred 
shrines of the Mohammedans, and is jealously guarded from intrusion 
of all Christian "dogs," who are only permitted to go up seven steps 
of a long stairway, when they can put their hand into a hole in the 
wall, which, they are told, extends into the cave. Into this hole the 
Jews put letters which they believe Abraham takes and presents to 
God. These letters are mostly prayers for prosperity in business, for 
restoration in sickness, or for family. The only possibility of "un- 
believers" getting entrance into the sacred precincts of the mosque is 



314 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



by a special "firman" or order from the sultan in Constantinople. This 
privilege has only been granted some six times within the last forty 
years. In 1862, the prince of Wales (now King Edward), accom- 
panied by Dean Stanley, visited the mosque, but did not enter the 
cave, as many supposed. This is too sacred for even the Moslems 
themselves to enter. The cave is entirely closed up; all that visitors 
see of it is through a small square hole in the floor of the mosque 
through which a lamp is lowered to show the entrance to the cave. In 
the mosque are centoaphs over the tombs in the cave beneath, which 
have been undisturbed for 4,000 years. Many people think that the 
mummy of Jacob may be found here some day when the cave is 
opened, as his body was embalmed in royal style in Egypt before be- 
ing brought to Hebron. Others who have been privileged to visit the 
mosque are the Marquis of Bute (1866); the crown prince of Prus- 
sia (1869) ; the two sons of the prince of Wales (1882) ; the Ameri- 
can ambassador, Ferrel (1895), and the following year Dr. Angel, 
on a special mission to Turkey from the United States. 

The Ancient Pool of Hebron dates as far back as the days of 
David and is mentioned in II Samuel iv:12. It is about 130 feet 
square and thirty feet deep. During the rainy season it is usually 
filled with surface water. 

The reputed Oak of Abraham stands on a piece of ground be- 
longing to the Russians, and is held in great reverence by the thou- 
sands of pilgrims who visit in every year. Although this cannot be the 
identical tree under which Abraham entertained the angel, it is a very 
ancient specimen of ilex or evergreen holm oak. Today the oak is 
in a very dilapidated condition, but in its prime it is said to have cast 
a shadow at noon over 1 00 yards in circumference. The trunk at six 
feet from the ground measures thirty-two feet in circumference. Re- 
cently the Russians erected a sort of small chapel under the oak, for 
the performance on special occasions of high mass. 

The Mohammedans of Hebron are noted as being the most fa- 
natical of their coreligionists in Palestine, and Christian work among 
them has been very difficult. In 1892 Mr. and Mrs. Murray, from 



Bethlehem. 



317 



Scotland, who had been for a year previously working in Jerusalem, 
felt called of the Lord to go and settle in this difficult field, and live 
for Jesus among these enemies of the cross. They had no means of 
their own, but like Abraham, felt called to go forth and trust to the 
Lord to supply their daily needs. After being there for a short time, 
they found that nothing was being done for the girls, and they were 
led to open a day school. This was soon largely attended, but it also 
attracted the attention of the government officials, and the girls were 
all frightened away. After a time of patient waiting, another set of 
children was gathered, only again to be scattered. In this way this 
little school has been interrupted time and again. Visiting in the homes 
of the people has also been carried on, and the people come to the 
mission home from among the villages lying all around Hebron, which 
are inhabited entirely by Mohammedans. Some two years after Mr. 
and Mrs. Murray had settled in Hebron they were invited to become 
missionaries of the Christian and Missionary alliance, and since then 
their work has been connected with that society. About a year after 
they went to Hebron the Mildway mission of London opened a medical 
mission there, but after carrying on the work for several years they with- 
drew, and the mission was handed over to the United Free church of 
Scotland. 

The people of Palestine are very much oppressed with taxation. 
The taxes are farmed out and the tax gatherer has not only to pay the 
government, but he extorts as much as he possibly can for his own 
benefit. Every camel, horse, donkey, sheep and goat, etc., and even 
every fruit tree is taxed. The government will not allow the native 
Christians to be soldiers, but they tax them heavily for not being sol- 
diers. The Mohammedan is taught from childhood to despise and hate 
everything under the name of Christianity. 



Mount of Olives. 



319 



CHAPTER XXI. 
The Mount of Olives. 

Monday afternoon, in company with a friend from Jaffa, we took 
a carriage for the Mount of Olives, the driver cruelly urging his horses 
in a reckless manner to their utmost speed. The distance by carriage 
was about two miles to the summit, and the roadway, which is kept in 
excellent order by the Russians, is a good one. By an easy walk of 
half an hour you see some remarkable things ; for example, a light 
gray rock is pointed out as the place where the Madonna dropped her 
girdle when she ascended to heaven ; a little farther up is another rock, 
on which Jesus stood when he beheld the city and wept over it. Here 
is the stone from which the Holy Virgin mounted the beast when 
starting upon her journey to Egypt; here is the place where Jesus for- 
gave Peter all his sins. The place where Mary once met her son, 
when she was going to Bethany and he was on his way to Jerusalem, is 
marked by a cross, and cavities in several rocks on the hillside are 
shown as foot prints of saints. The barren fig tree, cursed by the 
saviour, is still growing on the Bethany side of the mountain. Trees in 
different places are pointed out as the actual gibbets upon which Judas 
hanged himself, in proof whereof the branches grow toward the east, 
pointing away from the holy sepulcher. To some people these hum- 
bugs are so manifest as to be amusing, but they deceive many devout, 
trusting pilgrims who come to worship and adore. 

From the summit we ascend the Russian tower from whose heights 
can be seen to the east the Jordan, the Dead sea, the mountains of 
Moab, and the wilderness between; to the west, the Mediterranean; 
and far in the distance to the north, Mount Hermon's tops are visible. 
But closer, just beneath us, securely surrounded and protected by 
mountains, lies the city of Jerusalem, and we think of the words of the 



320 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Psalmist, of the safety of such as trust in God — "As the mountains 
are around about Jerusalem, so the lord is around about his people from 
henceforth and forever." 

When leaving, my friend suggested that I break some leaves or 
small branches from olive trees nearby, as mementos of the place; 
when several native women came running and protesting, and who 
persistently debarred our way till my friend spoke to them a few kind 
words in Arabic. 

Within the walls of Jerusalem ruin covers the places Jesus knew. 
Students dispute about the scenes of the last supper, his trial, crucifixion 
and burial. But about Gethsemane, the place where he wept over Jeru- 
salem and the scene of his ascension, there is no dispute. It was fitting, 
therefore, that the convention should hold one of its meetings on the 
Mount of Olives, where the fellowship of Jesus with his followers was 
viewed in the recollection of his last days on earth, and where, while he 
was blessing them, he began to rise and the clouds received him, while 
the disciples stood looking on after him. We meet in a grove belonging 
to the Armenian church; when Mr. Devins, of New York, the leader 
of the meeting, asking permission the answer was, "Why not? Do 
we not all serve the same Christ?" 

The place of Christ's sorrow was on one slope of the mountain, in 
Gethsemane — the home of his friendship, with Martha, and Mary 
and Lazarus on the other side, in Bethany. From the turn of the road 
he looked upon Jerusalem and wept over it. Down the long slope to 
Kedron and up to the city gate he rode while the multitude spread their 
garments in the way, and cut down branches from the trees to strew 
before him. "Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he that cometh 
in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." Over the moun- 
tain he led his disciples, and, while he blessed them, he was departed 
from them. In these melting and uplifting thoughts we sang hymns 
of dedication and praise — "My Jesus, as thou wilt," and 

But warm, sweet, tender, even yet 

A present help in thee; 
And faith has yet its Olivet, 

And love its Galilee. 



Mount of Olives. 



321 



Men of like faith, from London to Japan, spoke of Jesus and the 
sacred associations of his life, and we returned to Jerusalem with the 
sense of his presence and his benediction. 

In the garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, 
the delegates frequently resorted. Christ's first great temptation came 
in a wilderness, his last and hardest in a garden. The wilderness, that 
dry and stony desert of Judea, endures with hardly a trace of man's 
occupation or improvement upon its sterile hills and thirsty valleys, a 
fitting place to wrestle with the powers of darkness that assail the soul. 
And the garden remains not unchanged; but unchanged for so long 
that it has become one of the central places of Christian pilgrimage. 
Under its old olive trees now blooms a garden after the western fashion, 
bright with flowers, carefully tended and watered by the monks in 
charge. The air is fragrant, all speaks of peace to the soul, unbroken by 
alarms, unmarred by inward doubts. 

Such a retreat must have been as delightful as needful to the weary 
soul and body of our Lord. And yet he was so much in the very image 
of our humanity that he shared our experience, that the hardest trials 
come when we have left the excitements of the crowd and have come 
face to face with our own souls and solitude. The burden of Geth- 
semane was one which even the three favored disciples might not share. 
Christ's real and final struggle came before the arrest, the trial, the 
scourging and mocking, and the cross. Christ won his victory on the 
very battlefield of solitary decision and self surrender, where we must 
fight. And we seem to hear him saying, "In the world ye shall have 
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 

On the opposite side of the Mount of Olives, two miles from 
Jerusalem, is the little village of Bethany, of about forty poor houses, 
inhabited by Moslems. No native Christians live in Bethany. It is 
an uninteresting place today, but one visits it gladly, for this was the 
home of Jesus' friends. Few places in Palestine are associated with 
more familiar incidents in our Lord's life, and with more precious 
words of his, than the village and the home there. 



22 



322 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Where wert thou, brother, those four days? 

There lives no record of reply, 

Which telling what it is to die, 
Had surely added praise to praise. 

The traditional tomb of Lazarus is pointed out. It is a deep 
cave, approached by a dark stairway, and so constructed as to give 
shape to one's thought of the greatest miracle of Christ's lifetime. Many 
villagers gathered about the tomb, probably out of curiosity to see the 
strangers. As we stood near, I thought of another meeting in Bethany, 
when Martha and Mary stood by their brother's grave, with friends 
who had come to console them, and of Jesus, who "Wept with those 
who wept," and gave the sisters hope that their brother would live again. 

From every house the neighbors met, 

The streets were filled with joyful sound, 
A solemn gladness even crowned 

The purple brows of Olivet. 

Behold a man raised up by Christ! 

The rest remaineth unrevealed; 

He told it not; or something sealed 
The lips of the evangelist. 

And, in a home of Bethany, I think of another scene: "There they 
made him a supper; and Martha served; but Lazarus was one of them 
that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment 
of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped 
his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odor of the 
ointment." 



Her eyes are homes of silent prayer, 

Nor other thought her mind admits 
But, he was dead, and there he sits, 

And he that brought him back is there. 

Then one deep love doth supersede 
All other, when her ardent gaze 
Roves from the living brother's face, 

And rests upon the Life indeed. 

All subtle thought, all curious fears, 

Borne down by gladness so complete, 
She bows, she bathes the Saviour's feet 
With costly spikenard and with tears. 



Mount of Olives. 



325 



Ruins of the traditional house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus are 
to be seen. From Bethany to Jerusalem we pass over the same road 
that Jesus and the disciples must have passed over many times, in going 
to and from this little village. 



The World 's Convention. 



327 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The World's Convention. 
THE WORLD'S FOURTH SUNDAY SCHOOL CONVENTION. 



Programme for Sunday, April 17th, 1904. Citizens and guests of 
Jerusalem cordially invited to attend. 

FIRST LESSON. 

10:30 a. m. — Convention Sermon. The Venerable Archdeacon of Lon- 
don, Rev. William Sinclair. 

SECOND LESSON. 

F. F. Belsey, Esq., London, will preside. 
7:30 p. m— Address of Welcome. The Right Rev. G. F. Blyth, D. D., 
Bishop of the Church of England in Jerusalem and the East. 
Hon. Selah Merrill, American Consul, Jerusalem. 
John Dickson, Esq., His British Majesty's Consul. 
Responses — 

America, Rev. John Potts, D. D., Toronto, Canada; England, Dr. 
Monroe Gibson, London; Canada, Rev. Wm. Frizzell, Toronto, Can- 
ada; United States, Mr. W. N. Hartshorn, Boston, Mass., U. S. A.; 
India, Rev. Richard Burges, Calcutta; Turkey, Rev. James P. Mc- 
Naughton, Smyrna; Egypt, Rev. Chancey Murch, Luxor; Bulgaria, 
Rev. J. F. Clarke, Samokov; Trinidad, Rev W. Scott-Whittier, D. 
D., Port of Spain; Mexico, Rev. J. G. Dale, Rio Verde; Japan, Miss 
Frances Phelps, Sendal; China, Miss Lizzie Sloan, Foochow; 
Persia, Mrs. Margaret W. Dean, Urumia; Nova Scotia, Rev. Jacob 
Layton, Truro; World Tour, Dr. John B. Devins, New York, U. S. 
A.; Colored Work, Dr. W. S. Brooks, D. D., Chicago, 111.; Indian 
Work, Rev. A. L. Riggs, Santee, Neb. 

Everybody in Jerusalem invited. No tickets needed for admission. 
Please circulate this information. 



Monday, April 18 — "Studies of the Land." 

9:00 a. m. — Devotional and Musical. 
9:30 a. m. — Organization and other business. 
10:00 a. m. — The Geographical and Historical Basis of Divine Revela- 
tion." Dr. Monro Gibson, London. 



328 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



10:30 a. m. — "Jerusalem in Old Testament Times." Prof. L. B. Paton, 

Hartford, Conn., U. S. A. 
11:00 a. m. — "Customs of Syria as Illustrating the Bible." Rev. Geo. 

W. Mackie, D. D. Beyrout. 
11:30 a. m. — Oriental Conference conducted by Dr. Ghosn-el-Howie Mt. 

Lebanon. 

Evening — "The Organized Sunday School Work." 
8:00 p. m. — Devotional and Musical. 

8:15 p. m. — "The Work in Great Britain." Rev. Frank Johnson. 
8:30 p. m. — "The Work in America." Mrs. Mary Foster Byrnes. 
8:45 p. m. — "The Work in India." Rev. Richard Burger. 
9:00 p. m— "The Work in Turkey." Rev. J. P. McNaughton. 
9:15 p. m. — Address: "Childhood, the Hope of the World." Marion 
Lawrence, Toledo, Ohio, U. S. A. 

Tuesday, April 19 — "Fulfilling the Great Commission." 
9:00 a. m. — Devotional and Musical. 

9:30 a. m. — "Missionary Work in and about Jerusalem." Rev. J. 
Carnegie Brown, Jerusalem. 

10:00 a. m. — "Power of God's Word." Rev. J. E. Hanauer, Jerusalem. 

10:30 a. m. — "The Promise Fulfilled, 'Lo, I am With You Always.'" 

Conference Conducted by Rev. Chauncey Murch, Lux- 
or, Egypt. Verified by Missionaries Present. 

11:00 a. m. — "The Sunday School's place in the Kingdom" Confer- 
ence led by Mr. W. B. Jacobs, Chicago, 111., U. S. A. 
Rev. Chas. Brown, London. 

Evening. 

8:00 p. m. — Devotional and Musical. 

8:15 p. m. — "The Permanence of the Kingdom." Rev. W. L. Wat- 
kinson, London. 

8:35 p. m.— "The Outlook.' Consecration meeting; Rev. Dr. Richard 
Glover, London; Dr. John Potts, Toronto, Canada; 
Rev. S. A. Frazer, San Fernando, Trindad; Mr. A. B. 
McCrillis, Providence, R. I., U. S. A.; Mr. C. A. 
Trumbull, Philadelphia, Pa., U. S. A. 

Workers in the Sunday school from every part of the inhabited world 
had for ten days been pouring into Jerusalem. The Grosser Kurfurst 
had brought its 800 from North America to Beyrout, where they broke 
up into many small groups, some taking rail to Damascus and the wonders 
of Baalbek's ruins, returning to Beyrout, to steam down the Mediter- 
ranean coast past Sidon and Tyre to Haifa. There again new parties 
were formed, some to ride on horseback through Galilee and Samaria to 
Jerusalem, others visiting only Nazareth and Tiberias and the sea of Gal- 



The World 's Convention. 



331 



ilee, then returning to the waiting Kurfurst at Haifa and steaming again 
down the coast of Jaffa, where a four hours' run by rail brought them to 
Jerusalem well ahead of the rest. Additional time was thus gained for 
exploring the wonders <.<f Zion and for short excursions into the neighbor- 
ing regions. The adventures and experiences of the forty who dared the 
discomforts and fatigue of the long horseback ride from Damascus to Je- 
rusalem, living for ten days in the saddle, and sleeping for ten nights in 
their snug tents on mountain and plain, have already been told. Friend- 
ships were formed during these overland trips through the Holy Land that 
will crystallize the influences of the Jerusalem convention. 

But North America's children began to realize before they reached 
Jerusalem that they were only a small part of the great assembly. Great 
Britain's steamer, the Auguste Victoria, has disembarked similar parties 
for overland horseback or carriage trips through the land. It was not 
long before the caravans of England and of America began to pass each 
other on the way, and the faces of many of the Anglo-Saxon cousins had 
become familiar to each before the goal was reached. From the far east, 
too, still others had come, for Asia and Australia and the islands of the 
sea had sent their representatives. 

On Sunday morning, April 1 7, the sun rose over the city of Jerusa- 
lem as gloriously as on that day of triumphal entry nineteen centuries ago. 
Today is to witness a new triumphal entry ; but the king of the Jews has 
enlarged his kingdom, and a great multitude of his subjects, "out of every 
nation and of all tribes and people and tongues," have come to acknowl- 
edge his power and to rejoice in his rule. 

The convention tent was pitched on a level spot just north of Gor- 
don's Calvary, and only a short distance from it. The convention ser- 
mon was to be preached at the service beginning at half past 1 o'clock 
Sunday morning. Long before that hour little groups of Sunday school 
folks were on their way from hotels, private houses and tents. Our way 
led us past the Damascus gate. The dusty road was well crowded ; 
Russian pilgrims plodding on their way to kiss the stones in the church of 
the Holy Sepulcher; donkey boys prodding their patient little beasts; 
trains of heavily laden camels ; women veiled in black, their bodies shroud- 



332 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



ed in pure white, black or colors. Beggars clogged our steps crying bak- 
shish. Mounted officers passed us, resplendent in gold braid, their 
bronze faces looking out from under the white keffie held by the heavy 
black rope. At one point the city wall beneath which we walked sur- 
mounted a great mass of solid rock, perhaps fifty feet high, scarred and 
weather stained by the centuries. A slim native boy, brown skinned, 
clothed only in a single bit of ragged linen cloth held loosely around him, 
droned a bakshish refrain, kissing his hand and patting incessantly the 
pilgrim on whom he had fastened. The slender Russian tower on the 
Mount of Olives pierced the sky to the east. 

Now we reach a grassy plain, where native men and women are 
lounging or seated, watching the westerners. A little group of jet black 

Ethiopian women, in white and black robes, are seated by a white grave- 
stone on the hillside. Two hundred yards away is the convention tent, of 

oblong rectangular shape, some 40 feet by 200. It holds 1 ,800 people, 

and the morning session taxed it to the utmost. 

We learned later of a strange report which had gained currency 
among the Mohammedans, and which accounted for the crowds that had 
gathered on Sunday morning about the convention tent. It was gener- 
ally understood among the Mohammedans that these Christian people 
from the west had brought with them a cock, and that when, on that 
Sabbath morning outside the walls of Jerusalem, the cock should crow, 
Christ was to come again. What this would mean to themselves and 
to Jerusalem they did r.ot know, but they had gathered in awe and rev- 
erence to witness, if possible, the great scene. 

Forty minutes before starting time the hymns had begun. "Oh, 
Galilee, blue Galilee," was the refrain that first rang out from the great 
tent, taking us back to the lake that was now a reality in our lives. The 
singing of other familiar hymns, and the filling out of registration cards 
calling for information, among other facts, as to how far to and from 
the convention each one would have traveled, passed the next half hour 
quickly. 

The speaker's platform was backed by a series of flags, extending 
around the sides of the tent, of some twenty-two leading nations of the 



The World 's Convention. 



world. Alongside the familiar faces of Warren and Hartshorn and 
McCnllis and Potts and Clark and Belsey were other faces never be- 
fore seen in a Sunday school convention. Franciscan monks rubbed 
elbows with past patriarchs of the Greek church. Near the superin- 
tendent of public instruction and press censor of Palestine for the sultan 
sat the kindly faced Samaritan high priest and his son. Black pointed 
cowls were there, and brown robes held at the waist by loosely knotted 
cords. The fez and the turban of the east contrasted with the bared 
head of the west. Mohammedans, Copts, Greek Catholics, Roman 
Catholics, Armenians, members of the Syriac church mingled with 
Christian Jews, Polish Jews, Aleppo Jews and Spanish Jews, while 
Christian missionaries fresh from their fields of work marveled and re- 
joiced at the compelling interest of this new factor in the kingdom. 
It was after Charles Wesley's 

Love divine, all love excelling, 

Joy of heaven to earth come down, 

had been sung that the opening words of the convention were spoken by 
Mr. W. N. Hartshorn, of Boston, chairman of the international execu- 
tive committee. "By the good providence of our heavenly father we 
have reached the goal of our cruise," and every heart spoke a silent 
amen. As prayer and bible reading and hymn followed, this great host 
from all nations of the earth lifted up heart and voice in loving adora- 
tion of Jesus of Nazareth. One wished that those disciples who, in a 
garden not far away, "called Gethsemane," when that Jesus was taken 
by the great multitude with swords and staves ' all left him, and fled," 
could have looked down the ages and have seen and heard this world 
assemblage of his followers. Their footsteps might have been stayed. 
And how a sight of it would have dampened the ardor of that "great 
multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of 
the people," who came out to seize and to silence the Nazarene! 

The convention sermon was preached by the archdeacon of Lon- 
don, the Ven. Dr. William Macdonald Sinclair. The rich tones of the 
voice trained to fill St. Paul's in London, found no difficulty in reaching 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



to the farthest corners of the great tent. From Matt., xxi., 15-16, 
he preached. "The Children's Charter" was his theme. In speaking 
of the undying fascination which the Hebrew land has for the followers 
of Christ, he added the comforting thought : 

''And yet the very fact of the supreme and eternal nature of him 
whom we worship as the brightness of the father's glory takes away all 
anxiety as to exact spots and disputed sites. We remember how our 
Lord himself said, 'The flesh porfiteth nothing; the words that I speak 
unto you, they are spirit and they are life.' " 

It was noticeable that the archdeacon spoke from the English 
standpoint of the Sunday school as being an institution for children, as 
contrasted with the broader fact of the Sunday school as the teaching 
service of the church embracing the entire church, parents and children 
alike. His sermon was an earnest summons to the deeper consecration 
of Sunday school teachers for the children's sake. 

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Does his successive journeys run, 

rang out in conquering sweetness over Calvary and the city below. I 

wished that I could stand outs:de the convention tent, on Golgotha's 
mount, and hear that praise ascending. We had come from homes 

where he reigns to the city that he loved and wept over. That song 

voiced our assurance and his that in the city which crucified him, as in 

all parts else of his earth, he shall yet reign in the fullness of power, 

God speed the day! 

Before the close of the morning session Dr. John Potts had made 

the welcome announcement that the leaders of the convention had been 

led to plan for a union sacramental service in the tent Sunday afternoon. 

"Even as Christ said to his disciples of old, 'With desire I have desired 

to eat this passover with you before I suffer,' so now, not the suffering, 

but the reigning Christ shall be in our minds today." The invitation 

was given to all who desired to join in partaking of the elements on that 

sacred spot. 

It was estimated that there were no less than 800 who joined in 
commemorating the new covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ that Sunday 



The Samaritan High Priest, Jacob. 



The World 's Convention. 



337 



afternoon. Dr. Potts presided at the service, Dr. Munro Gibson, of 
London, spoke to the hearts of the disciples communing there, and 
thirty ministers of different denominations shared in distributing the ele- 
ments. It was one of the many unexpected blessings of the convention 
that deepened the joy and the abiding influence of those days of privi- 
lege. Nor was the communion limited to the western members of the 
convention. A saintly old Christian Armenian said to his son after the 
service was over, "I want to die; I want to die." Well might he feel 
that he had reached a mountain peak of his earthly course, and say with 
Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine 
eyes have seen thy salvation." 

On Sunday evening we made our way under the stars that shine the 
more brightly for the unlighted streets of the city into the tent that had 
already become historic. The dimly burning oil lamps suspended 
down the middle of the tent contrasted with memories of the electric 
lighted auditoriums of international conventions in the west. But no 
one would have exchanged the east for the west that night. Hearts and 
eyes were well lighted, and the bishop of the church of England in Jeru- 
salem and the east, the Rt. Rev. G. F. Popham Blyth, D. D., found 
a ready response when he spoke of his joy in the opportunity that the 
Sunday school movement gave for a common meeting ground for all de- 
nominations. His expression of hope that the convention might leave a 
memorial of its stay in the support of some form of religious work in 
Palestine, and his closing plea, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," was 
not forgotten by his hearers. 

A letter of greeting, and of regret at inability to be present on ac- 
count of illness was read from his British majesty's consul, John Dickson, 
Esq. The American consul, the Hon. Selah Merrill, brought his own 
greetings in person. 

Responses from representatives of Christian work throughout the 
world were able and unique. One might have supposed, to see the 
long list that appeared, that this part of the program would be tedious. 
It was an enjoyable surprise ; interest never flagged. With few excep- 
tions the speakers kept close to their three-minute limit, and each had a 

23 



338 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



message that was fresh. There was many a picture spot of thought and 
eloquence, as when Dr. Munro Gibson said: "I should like to appoint 
Dr. Potts, with that stentorian voice of his, to go up into the highest 
minaret of this city and sound from that height a muezzin call to the 
whole world to prayer." Spontaneously there burst from the convention 
the song, "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name!" 

Purges, of India, described the famous century old banyan tree of 
Calcutta. Under this two or three .world's conventions could easily be 
held. The tree is cared for by the government as one of the wonders 
of the empire, and the speaker likened it to the other banyan tree of that 
land, started a hundred years ago by the 0rst Sunday school on record 
in India, established by Carey, Marshman and Ward, and now under 
the name of the India Sunday school union spreading out branches and 
new roots for the salvation of the country. 

A word for Constantinople as the scene of some future World's 
Sunday School Convention, was spoken by Rev. Marcellus Bowen, 
manager of the bible house at Constantinople. 

Rev. Chauncey Murch, of Luxor, testified that in Egypt, where 
some 1 4,000 children are being educated, the interest in the Sunday 
school is so great that the Christian workers make their schools Sunday 
schools every day of the week. 

Bulgaria's representative, Rev. J. F. Clark, of Somokov, showed a 
map indicating the forty places containing missions of the American 
board, representing 56 Sunday schools and 2,700 or more scholars. He 
reported that in Macedonia last year the number of Sunday schools 
had doubled. 

Trinidad, through Rev. Dr. W. Scott Whittier, turned our hearts 
and our prayers toward the tens of thousands of dusky hands reaching 
out for help from that isle of the sea. 

Japan's special conditions were represented as making it a paradise 
for Sunday school workers by Miss P ranees Phelps, of Sendai. 

In Korea, said Dr. John Bancroft Devins, returning from a world 
tour, they call Sunday school the bible hour, for every member of the 
church stays. 



\ 

The World 's Convention. 



And so from other nations, not excepting America, England, Can- 
ada, Mexico and Persia, and from colored work and Indian work in 
the United States, came messages of hope and good report. 

Perhaps there was no more striking incident in the convention than 
occurred when the Samaritan high priest, Jacob, son of Aaron, spoke to 
a Christian audience that Sunday evening. He had come from his 
home in Nablus, the site of ancient Shechem, near "a city of Samaria, 
called Sychar," at the foot of Mount Gerizim. Leaving that mountain 
where his fathers worshipped, and where year after year he and the little 
remnant of his people, less than 200, observe the killing of the passover 
lamb, he came by invitation to attend the Jerusalem convention. At the 
close of his address, spoken in his own language, a fine looking man 
seated near him arose. "I have the honor," he said, ''as a Christian 
Jew, to hold out the hand of fellowship to the Samaritan high priest, and 
I gladly translate his words." 

i hen we understood what our chairman, Mr. Belsey, had mean 4 : 
when he spoke of the bettered relations between the Jews and the Sa- 
maritans. When Jesus talked with the woman of Samaria at the well 
under the shadow of Gerizim, "Jews had no dealings with Samaritans." 
With the high priest were the priest Isaac, son of Amram, and lay dep- 
uties Shelahy, sen of Jacob, and Shafeek, son of the high priest himself. 
This was the message of the high priest: 

"From Gedizim, the mountain of divine blessing, the eminence 
whose mighty shoulder overshadows and has given its name to the an- 
cient city of Shechem, where we dwell, we come in order to extend a 
welcome to the delegates who have gathered from many and distant 
lands in order to hold this Sunday School Convention. 

"As representatives of one of the most ancient, though indeed at 
present the smallest, of the four monotheistic forms of religion, we, 
priests and laymen of the Samaritans, bid you a hearty welcome to 
the Land of Promise. 

"In this representative assembly we recognize a fulfillment of the 
divine precept 'Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people' (Deuteronomy 
xxxii. :43), and we seize this opportunity, in order to record our knowl- 



340 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



edge and appreciation of the fact that the founder of Christianity and 
all sincere disciples of his have always evinced a deep sympathy with 
our people, a reverence for our sacred books, and an interest in our 
history. May the God of Israel bless you in your coming in and in your 
going out, from this time forth, and forever. Amen." 

Faydi Effendi, mayor of Bethlehem, was one of the distinguished 
guests in the convention tent Monday morning, April 1 8. The few but 
important matters of business facing the convention were promptly at- 
tended to, immediately after the devotional and musical half hour 
conducted by the English director of music, Mr. E. C. Carter. A 
nominating committee was chosen by the convention. Before any formal 
nominations were made by the committee, however, Mr. F. F. Belsey, 
representing Great Britain, rose and presented the name of Mr. E. K. 
Waren, the retiring chairman of the world's executive committee, as 
president of the Jerusalem convention. His immediate election by accla- 
mation was only a slight indication of how the delegates had come to 
love and honor this man. The full story of the God led achievement 
which he and his fellow committeemen, Messrs. Hartshorn and McCril- 
lis, have wrought against almost insuperable obstacles, can never be 
written. 

Four remarkable "Studies of the Land" made up the programme 
of the forenoon. 

The single thought left with his hearers by the new president that 
morning was a fitting one. The commission of Jesus Christ had, in his 
earthly life time, been laid upon his disciples to carry his message unto 
the uttermost parts of the earth. In the nineteen centuries that have 
passed, the message has, in a measure, been so preached. Now, for the 
first time since that commission was given, the uttermost parts of the 
earth had come to Jerusalem, to meet in the fellowship of his name, 
to confer with each other about his work, and to receive a new com- 
mission for the further fulfillment of his purposes. 

Dr. Munro Gibson, of London, claimed by both America and 
England, was at his best on "The Geographical and Historical Basis 



The World's Convention. 



341 



of Divine Revelation." His word on Egypt's place in bible history 
sharpened interest in the coming visit to that land. Turning to Palestine, 
the speaker found his revelation in its mountains, rivers, fields and plains, 
more than in its actual ruins. To any discontented travelers in the Holy 
Land Dr. Gibson pithily said he should like to preach from the text, 
"What went ye out for to see?" And he made his theme and his hear- 
ers glow with the profound meaning of all that that land stands for in 
its place in divine revelation. 

The fascinations of research in the holy city were unfolded in the 
scholarly address on ' Jerusalem in Old Testament Times," by Prof. 
L. B. Paton, of Hartford Theological Seminary, who was in Jerusalem 
as director in 1 903-4, of the American School of Oriental Study and 
Research in Palestine. Using a large wall map of Jerusalem, while 
his hearers held in their hands a small diagram of the city prepared for 
the convention, Prof. Paton showed how the investigator starts from 
the points to which little or no doubt attaches, and, from those as bases, 
works out into a study of the points of doubtful location. He dealt 
with springs, hills and valleys, pinning verses of scripture to each, then 
proceeded to the ever interesting walls and gates of the city. The 
speaker expressed his unhesitating belief in the Mosque of Omar as 
being the site of the temple of Solomon and Herod. 

Dr. Ghosn el Howie, of Mount Lebanon, appeared in native dress 
before the convention. He described some of the characteristic observ- 
ances of his people, such as the thorough salting of a newb~;T; baby, 
without which the child might later be met with the taunt, "he was not 
well salted." With Dr. Howie was his daughter, Ruby, a bright faced 
girl of 1 4 or so, who had been baptised the day before in the convention 
tent. In closing he offered for discussion the significant question: 
"Ought the movement toward westernism in Syria and Palestine to be 
arrested, in order to conserve for bible students the light giving customs 
of the Lloly Land?" 

Those who may have considered themselves familiar with the bib- 
lical customs of the east were amazed at the wealth of the subject as 

» 

treated by Dr. George W. Mackie, of Beyrout, on "Customs of Syria 



342 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



as Illuslating the Bible." He told where the peculiarly dexterous art of 
winnowing the chaff from the wheat can be seen in Lebanon, separating 
by the friction of a pestle, rather than by a blow, the kernel from the 
chaff, without injury to the former. He described the rolling of the 
enormous burden, so familiar in the east, upon the shoulders of a man 
by two of his friends, while the burden bearer kneels to receive it, they 
helping him to his feet and steadying him at the start. This custom 
gives added meaning to the loving command, "Roll thy burden upon 
the Lord." 

Sin having its heel on the neck of the victim was illustrated by the 
shepherd's manner of punishing a refractory sheep, by throwing it to the 
ground and placing on its neck the heel of his sandal, from which 
projects nails. 

w hen the prophet asked, "Who hath believed our reportr and to 

* 

whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" he referred to the figure of 
Jehovah baring his arm in preparation for the vigorous accomplishing 
of his purposes, just as the oriental woman throws back for her work 
her large flowing sleeves, and fastens them back of her neck. The 
prophet complains that though Jehovah's preparations are so evident no 
one is interested enough to notice the revealed arm. 

A harvest precedes the summer in the east, therefore Jeremiah fol- 
lows that order when he says, "The harvest is passed, the summer is 
ended." 

The giving of a cup of cold water, not merely water, was the 
significant service commended by our Lord. It meant taking the trouble 
to go to the place where water had to be carefully cooled, by evapora- 
tion, in one of the porous jars that are used for that purpose. And so 
the multitude of illustrations marshaled by Dr. Mackie gave familiar 
passages a new richness. 

When the morning's nominations were made and ratified by the con- 
vention, it was a matter of rejoicing to many present to join in electing 
as the new chairman of the World's Sunday school executive com- 
mittee one who had so faithfully and generously served the international 
convention as its treasurer, Dr. George W. Bailey, of Philadelphia. 



The World 's Convention. 



343 



"We serve the same Christ," was the cordial answer of the authori- 
ties of the Armenian church on the Mount of Olives, when their permis- 
sion was asked to hold a devotional meeting Monday afternoon on that 
hill of sacred memories. Dr. John Bancroft Devins, of New York, 
presided, and the prayer hymn, "My Jesus, as Thou Wilt," was raised 
in loving submission to one who had prayed in the garden on that slope 
"not my will, but thine." Silver haired Dr. Richard Glover, of 
London, spoke of Christ's tears. "A tearless life is a loveless life." 
"If we have any sorrow, let us betake ourselves to the tears of Jesus 
Christ." 

One of many important "by products" of the Jerusalem convention 
was the formation of the Palestine Sunday School association. In 
answer to the inquiry of a Palestine Sunday school worker concerning 
the possibilities of organized work, a meeting was called for Tuesday 
afternoon in the so called Iron chapel. The difficulties in the way of 
organizing the Sunday school work of Palestine were considered, and it 
was noticeable that they were remarkably similar to the difficulties of 
getting an American county or township organization into being. Finally 
it was thought wise at least to elect a treasurer to receive money which 
friends of the work were eager to invest in this new enterprise. The 
full fledged association was soon in being, with the following board of 
officers: President, Rev. J. C. Brown, D. D., Jerusalem; vice presi- 
dent, Rev. H. Sykes, Jerusalem; first secretary, Rev. A. E. Thompson, 
Jerusalem; second secretary, Mr. Khaleel Sakakane, Jerusalem; treas- 
urer, Rev. A. E. Kelsey, Ramallah, Jerusalem. 

"The Organized Sunday School Work of the World" was the 
theme Oi Monday evening's session. It was a picked group who spoke 
their messages that night. Rev. Frank Johnson, editor of the Sunday 
School Chronicle, of London, gave an optimistic statement of the facts 
of the century just completed, as to organized work in Great Britain, 
and announced that secretaries of the London Sunday School union are 
about to cross the Atlantic to study American Sunday school methods. 

America's and Mexico's friend, Mrs. Mary Foster Bryner, told the 
familiar story of the achievements and conditions in our own land. 



344 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Rev. Richard Burges, of India, had an opportunity to tell more of 
that growing banyan tree of his empire, the India Sunday School union, 
which had been introduced m his three minutes' talk on Sunday. Its 
field is tremendous, "from the Indian ocean to Shan states in Burmah, 
and from the snow-capped Himalayas to the burning equator." The 
year 1902 showed a gain of over 50,000 over the previous year in 
India's total Sunday school membership of almost 350,000. 

The work in Turkey was pictured by Rev. J. P. McNaughton, of 
Smyrna, who showed that in all the Christian mission schools in Turkey 
there is held not only a Sunday school, but a daily bible school as well. 
The international lessons are used as supplementary to the daily study. 
Mr. McNaughton rightly emphasized the part which American mis- 
sionaries have had in translating the bible into dialects that are familiar 
to children in every part of the Turkish empire, and he saw in the 
Jerusalem convention an important agency for breaking down barriers 
between religious bodies. 

North America knows Marion Lawrence, and will not be surprised 
that the evening's view of the world's Sunday school work should be 
crowned by his address on ."Childhood the Hope of the World." He 
proved in an eloquence that came from a heart knowledge of his subject, 
that the child which Jesus set in the midst has remained in the midst, 
and will there remain so long as the world stands. He pointed to the 
Sunday school as the strategic strength of the Christian church, furnish- 
ing eighty-three out of every one hundred additions to church member- 
ship. And his hearers were ready to go with him when he pleaded for 
the best for the children — the best in buildings, the best in equipment, 
the best in teaching, the best of our sympathy and love. 

Speakers from Jerusalem, Egypt, Chicago and London, took part in 
Tuesday morning's service, on "Fulfilling the Great Commission." Rev. 
J. Carnegie Brown, of the Church of England mission in Jerusalem, 
made a plea for the Jews, reminding his hearers that when God became 
flesh it was the Hebrew people that he chose for his incarnation. Rev. 
J. E. Hanauer, of Jerusalem, called attention to the interesting historical 
fact that on the spot where the convention tent stood a German camp of 



The World's Convention. 345 

crusaders was pitched eight centuries ago, and their Christian hymns 
went up from that ground. Under the leadership of Rev. Chauncey 
Murch, of Luxor, Egypt, missionaries present testified out of their own 
experience to the fulfilling of the promise, "Lo, I am with you always." 
Mr. W. B. Jacobs, of Illinois, and the Rev. Charles Brown, of Lon- 
don, led the discussion of ' The Sunday School's Place in the King- 
dom." The claims of the study and the teaching of temperance in the 
Sunday school were presented by Mrs. W. F. Crafts, of Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

The crescent moon and the stars were shining overhead as we left 
our camp for the last evening walk to the convention. It was to be a 
consecration meeting, as well it might, before all faces were turned 
homeward again. Past the Damascus gate and the great walls looming 
high in the blackness of the night, past the "place of the skull" facing 
those walls, we followed the familiar way to the tent. 

Bishop Brooks' beautiful hymn was sung first that evening, "O 
Little Town of Bethlehem." The resolutions that were subsequently 
adopted by the convention were read by the chairman of the resolutions 
committee, Dr. Alexander Henry, of Philadelphia. They embody 
some of the best thoughts and experiences of the cruise and the conven- 
tion, and are worthy of careful reading in Sunday schools throughout 
the world. 

Few who had attended the three days' meeting realized that this 
world's convention, held in Jerusalem by the permission and courtesy 
of the Ottoman government, had proceeded, session by session, under 
the censorship of his majesty, the sultan. Yet such was the case, and 
one of the pleasantest moments of the convention occurred when Presi- 
dent Warren introduced to the audience his excellency, Ismael Bey, 
press censor for Palestine, whose presence and hearty interest in all the 
sessions had been known to the conventional leaders. His excellency 
spoke in warm commendation of the proceedings, and brought to the 
convention the greetings of the governor of Jerusalem, his excellency 
Asman Kasen Bey. His closing words, all spoken in good English, 



346 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



were: "May the presence of Almighty God be with you as you go!" 

Another interesting guest on the platform was a distinguished sol- 
dier of Abyssinia, Dedjaj Masche Meihechua Warkie, general of his 
majesty, King Menelik. He was in Jerusalem with some of his staff 
upon matters of importance to his sovereign, and upon invitation attended 
the closing session of the convention. His dark skinned, gray bearded 
face had a kindly expression, milder and more benignant than one would 
have associated with an Abyssinian warrior. 

A colored pastor from Kentucky, Dr. C. H. Parish, repeated in 
rich tones the translation of the words which the general spoke. 

"The general of Menelik likes very much to be here," said his in- 
terpreter. "He can see that this matter is proceeding in the interest of 
the entire people. We are born into the world to study, and especially 
to learn very much about the bible and ancient things. He is very glad 
to be here; it shall not only benefit him, but also his majesty the king." 
And then the Abyssinian warrior's interpreter closed with this remark- 
able declaration: "He holds that Christianity is to be the light of the 
world, and is to endure forever and ever." One could not but think of 
that "man of Ethiopia, of great authority, who had come to Jerusalem 
to worship." 

The keynote of the words of consecration at the close was struck by 
beloved Dr. W. L. Watkinson, of London, in his ringing message on 
"The Permanence of the Kingdom." A tangible act of consecration 
in which all could join was the offering of $100 made for the newly 
born Palestine Sunday School association, and received in caps, hats, 
fezzes and bonnets, upon the president's suggestion, passed throughout 
the audience. A gold napoleon found its way into that collection from 
the hand, of the general of Abyssinia. An American lady spoke truly 
when she rose and told of the little hand that had been stretched out to 
us for bakshish at every step in our travels in that land, and reminded us 
that in this offering we were putting gifts into those outstretched hands 
in the very best way. 

Then followed an hour of consecration, earnest words from earnest 
men and women whose lives had been uplifted and whose faith had been 



The World's Convention. 347 

deepened by the experiencs of which this meeting was the climax. An 
eloquent young southern Methodist spoke of the way in which the Jeru- 
salem cruise had revealed to him his own selfishness, uncharitableness, 
unbelief, worldliness. The measles and smallpox of his system had 
broken out, and he had not even known before that he had them. He 
thanked God for showing them to him, and here on Calvary he had 
foiled the antidote. Was it strange that some one started the hymn, 
"The Great Physician Now is Near"? 

And when a venerable Mohammedan, his excellency, Joseph Pasha, 
former mayor of Jerusalem, and a member of the famous peace con- 
ference of Berlin when Disraeli and Salisbury represented England, 
stepped to the front of the platform to say a word, it was a matter of 
moment that he should close this consecration service by reading in his 
own tongue, with the oriental expressiveness of deep feeling, the nine- 
teenth psalm: 

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

And the firmament showeth his handiwork. 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart 

Be acceptable in thy sight, 

O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer. 

There were two hymns that we had to sing then, ' Blest Be the Tie 
that Binds," and "God Be With Us Till We Meet Again," and that 
meant through life and death, for never on this side of the Jordan will 
that multitude of his children reassemble. What a reunion it will be on 
the other side! We joined hands, up and down the length and breadth 
of the great convention tent, while we sang. By the right hand I held 
Dr. Gibson, of London; by the left, the Spanish consul. On Mr. 
Warren's right were Ethiopia and Abyssinia, on his left America, Eng- 
land, Syria and Canada. Thus around the tent it went; the nations of 
the earth in loving fellowship and loyal obedience to the God and saviour 
of mankind. The real work of the Jerusalem convention had begun. 

The programme of the Jerusalem convention was a well rounded, 
masterfully presented series of studies of the land, the work and the 



348 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



commission. It was a programme for a world's audience, and a world's 
audience was there. Twenty-six countries were represented by a total 
enrollment of 1,526 persons. In addition to the nations one would 
expect to see present were Australia, Switzerland, Newfoundland, 
India, Denmark, South Africa, Austria, Japan, Egypt, the West 
Indies, Bulgaria, Germany, Madeira and Russia. 

Fifty-five different denominations or religious bodies joined in the 
worship of God and the study of his word and work which that memor- 
able programme offered. Sectarian lines were forgotten. Side by side 
they sat; heart to heart they worshiped and were taught — Armenians, 
Copts, Maronites, Moslems, Brethren in Christ, Bible Christians, 
Church of England, Church of Ireland, Church of Scotland, Reformed 
Jews, Syrians, Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Free Baptists, Bap 
tists, Free Methodists, Salvationists, Mennonites, Welsh Calvinistic Meth- 
odists; but the names of the branches of the family were not thought of, 
for the Jerusalem convention had made one family of all the world. Our 
Lord's own land was stirred, for 377 residents of Jerusalem attended 
the convention, and seventy-two persons from other parts of Palestine. 

But the making of an inspiring programme and the securing and 
caring for a large presentation were only the scaffolding of the structure 
of the Sunday school convention. The structure itself went deeper and 
rose higher. The Jerusalem cruise and convention deepened faith in 
God's hand and God's word. His care for the pilgrimage can never 
be forgotten. It was as though he led by a pillar of cloud and of fire. 

The increased interest in the study of the bible in North America 
can alone never be estimated. From every section of our great conti- 
nent some one had gone out upon this cruise, and some at home were 
following that one's course with keener interest than they had ever 
before had in bible lands. One such wrote from the home land to a 
brother on the cruise: "Yesterday, after breakfast, I took Philip and 
Trumbull into the parlor, and we had a good look at the places where 
Aunt Aline and Uncle Charley were pretty sure to be on that day. The 
little men were much interested, but not more so than the big man. I 
had Philip take some of the Tiberias and Capernaum views to Sunday 
school to show there." 



The World 's Convention. 



349 



Great Britain's 300 Sunday school delegates added to North Amer- 
ica's 700 made a round 1 ,000 from the Anglo-Saxon world. It is no 
small thing to touch the circles of acquaintance of 1 ,000 bible students 
into a living interest in bible scenes. 

And what of the 1,000 themselves? If the bible was gaining a 
new reality to the loving ones in the home land, what of those who 
were treading those bible lands with their own feet? Does it not count 
for something "practical" to set on fire 1 ,000 centers of influence in 
the field of bible teaching with a new sense of the reality of God's 
word? Can any one measure the potency of the Jerusalem Sunday 
school cruise as a bulwark of constructive bible study? 

Christian missions received an impetus such as no other ecumenical 
conference in modern times has given them. For 1 ,000 Christian people 
from the western world, of every denomination, saw Christian mission- 
aries at work, met and conversed with them, saw their stations, their 
buildings, their schools, their homes, their fields, their converts, their 
dimculties, their encouragements. Can "missions" ever be a dry or un- 
interesting word again to that 1,000? 

And the missionaries were stirred and uplifted. It is a new experi- 
ence in a Christian missionary in a foreign field to have 800 or 1 ,000 
Anglo-Saxon Christian workers drop in on him of an afternoon, to let 
him talk over his worK with them, to receive a substantial money offer- 
ing from them as a passing token of their interest, and to hear their 
God speed as they leave, knowing that his work and his field are living 
things now in their lives. 

An impression was made, and it will grow steadily larger, upon the 
secular world in America and England. The word "Sunday school 
scholar" is all too common a subject of cheap jest in uninformed secular 
papers. The Jerusalem Sunday School convention showed the world 
that Sunday school people are men and women who do things, and do 
them on a big scale. 1 here are three American business men whose 
names are known throughout the world as leading the world in their 
respective lines of business. Each of the three is a Sunday school man 
to the core; each is more deeply interested in Sunday school work than 



350 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan 



in his multi-millionaire dollar business, if he had to choose between the 
two; and one of those three is one of the men who made the Jerusa- 
lem Sunday School convention a reality. Here is a fact for the world 
to ponder. 

This new kind of convention, seventy-one day long, discovered 
workers and brought them to the front where they belonged. It made 
friendships that will make the world better. It brought distant sections 
of the United States and of Canada into mutual close understanding and 
interest and sympathy. It stirred the old world to its depths. The father 
alone knows what may be the end of its influences there. As the president 
of the convention said after its close, there were gathered together all 
colors, tongues, nations, creeds, but they all heard, every man in his 
own tongue, the holy spirit. There were differences of beliefs, but all 
came together with a wonderful sweetness. And at the center, though 
all did not recognize this, was Jesus Christ. May those of the east 
who had not before known him as he is, be drawn under his love and 
power by the influences of that assemblage in his name! And may 
those who were on that hill of Calvary with him preach in his name 
with renewed power unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem!* 



* Reprinted by permission from "A Pilgrimage to Jerusalem," by 
Charles G. Trumbull. 



Leaving Palestine. 351 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Leaving Palestine. 

Like earth's first day of sunlight was the World's Fourth Sunday 
School convention to Jerusalem. The morning stars of gospel light 
had sung together in this ancient city for four score years, but it was 
like a sudden burst of day when America and Great Britain lent us 
this noble multitude of their brightest and best. To many it was a day 
of revelation. Even Jerusalem, the pilgrim's shrine, recognized that 
this was no ordinary pilgrimage, and was stirred to ask, "Why have 
they came?" 

"To transfer to Gordon's Calvary the honors due to the holy sepul- 
cher," said the benighted devotee of Greek and Roman Catholicism. 
"To meet the Messiah," said the more ignorant Mohammedan, and they 
thronged the convention grounds to witness the advent of the coming one. 
And all the while the gospel trumpet never ceased to sound, nor the ban- 
ner of the Prince of Peace to wave, though the motley crowd of Pales- 
tine pressed under the canvas and even upon the platform. The cowled 
monk, the poorly clad, pity-moving Samaritan high priest, the high of- 
ficial of the city, the courtly Abyssinian ambassador, the poor fellah in 
from the villages, and the stiff necked son of Abraham — all were there, 
And "in thy light, they saw light." They noticed the absence of cru- 
cifix and image, of pomp and ceremony, of racial and religious antipathy. 
They saw the Moslem soldiers, accustomed to keep the peace between 
the so called Christian sects, stand idly by, on duty, but without any duty 
to perform. They saw, not the form, but the reality of Christian broth- 
erhood; not the cross, but the Christ. He was there, and they felt his 
presence, though they knew him not. Some one said that what they saw 
made them envy western civilization. Perhaps it did, but it did more. 
It made them long, consciously or unconsciously, for the rising on her own 



352 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



horizon of the Sun of Righteousness. They saw womanhood lifted out 
of eastern servitude, and childhood crowned with glory and honor. 
They even may have had a distinct vision of Jerusalem, as it is yet to be, 
when "the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the 
streets thereof." What of the night, now that the convention sun has 
set? Over the western waters, do there come back any rays of light? 
Is there an afterglow? 

Yes, brethren, across the sea, your light was not a meteor flash across 
the eastern sky. The night may darken again and the slumbering east 
sink back into indifferent repose, but the missionary starlight will shine 
more brightly, the missionary campfire will burn more cheerily, and the 
missionary song will more readily waken an answering echo in the hearts 
of the people of Palestine. In the afterglow of that bright day of your 
gathering together here, some will find their way to Calvary and follow 
on to Olivet, there to swell the coronation chorus: 

Bring forth the royal diadem. 
And crown him lord of all.* 

About forty of our party traveled by carriage from Jaffa to Jerusa- 
lem, and on our return many others went by carriage through this region. 
One of the party wrote of the trip as follows : 

"The first town we came to of note was Emmaus, a small place on a 
side hill. Most of the country from Jerusalem to Emmaus is very hilly 
and the roads wind around the sharp curves. After leaving Emmaus 
the country is a little more level. We crossed the valley of Ajalon, 
where Joshua commanded the sun to stand still for the space of three 
hours, then on to Gezer. Here we saw excavations in actual process. 
We saw foundations of the old city wall, 1 6 feet thick. Three distinct 
walls were found, and the houses, stores and the like with their modes of 
worship, equipments for sacrifice and other sacred relics. This excavat- 
ing was being done by women, who remove the dirt from the pits in bas- 
kets carried on their heads, and for this labor are paid 1 2 cents per 
day. From Gezer we passed on through a good farming country to 
Rahmala, where we rested and ate our lunch. This we found to be a 

*By Rev. A. E. Thompson, Jerusalem. 



Leaving Palestine. 



353 



typical old city with a dissipated lot of wretched people. But there are 
a few good houses, and some European families live here. From Rah- 
mala we drove to Jaffa ; this takes us through the plain of Sharon. The 
country is quite level ; the people live in villages and go out to till the soil 
or tend their flocks. The orange groves near Jaffa were fenced with 
high hedges of cactus; the streets of Jaffa are interesting." 

But to Jaffa the greater number of our party returned from Jerusalem 
by rail. From Jerusalem we passed over the plain of Rephaim, the wil- 
derness of St. John, the Judean hills, and the plain of Sharon, the way 
by which we had come. 

Waiting at a place till a train passed slowly by, two or three of the 
younger men of our party stood on the platform of the car and with out- 
stretched hands called for bakshish, as did so frequently the oriental 
beggar. But they were recognized at once, and from the passing train a 
loud voice replied, "Hello there, Yanks!" 

There were several native guides aboard our train, all heavily armed. 
Fields were white with harvest, which appeared bountiful, while other 
fields were being recently tilled. A camel, tilling the soil with a wooden 
plow, looked exceedingly awkward and out of place. Large stones at 
the corners of long, narrow strips of land were a noticeable feature, which 
called to our remembrance the curse pronounced so long ago to him who 
removed his neighbor's landmark. 

I wished to remain over night at Jaffa with a friend who expected 
to come from Jerusalem later by the regular train. At Jaffa we waited 
outside the closed gates, and carriages conveyed those of our party to the 
small boats waiting for them. Another party wished also to return to the 
city. We secured a carriage, paying half the price at first asked, which 
was double the usual price. My friend soon arrived at his destination. 
The Arabian driver, not understanding English, did not know where I 
wished to be taken. We stopped at the door of a school building to 
make inquiry, but the small girl who came to the door could not speak 
English, but soon brought the teacher who directed the driver where to 
take me. We drove through the long narrow streets, which would have 
been interesting had I not been alone, for in Jaffa much of the ancient 

24 



354 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



past is to be seen, as well as more interesting modern sights. Then, out 
of the busy part of the city we drove, on and on, through cleaner and 
wider streets, till the driver waited before a structure till I ascertained if 
it was that of which I was in search, being a girl's home school, in which 
my friend is a teacher. Here I remained over night, visiting with the 
teacher and pupils and learning of their life and work. 

The following morning others called to visit the little school so daint- 
ily kept and carefully conducted by these faithful teachers. We passed 
again through the quaint old Jaffa streets, making a few purchases, and 
then in small boats we were carried out through the boisterous and dan- 
gerous harbor to the waiting Kurfurst. Perhaps some day not far dis- 
tant an enterprising government will utilize, in the construction of a pier 
at Jaffa, some of the spare rocks which cover Palestine, and secure a more 
safe entrance from the sea to the land of Canaan. 

How clean, inviting and homelike it looked aboard the Kurfurst. 
We would sail in a few hours, and all were coming to the ship. It 
seemed not unlike a great family reunion, and about 4 p. m. we sailed 
for Alexandria. 

Of the Palestine we were leaving, W. G. Fitzgerald has picturesque- 
ly written: 

I never yet met a visitor to the Holy Land who was not struck 
by the fact that Palestine is over a thousand years behind the times, 
notwithstanding the queer little railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem which 
enables prosaic porters to yell out incongruously, "Jerusalem, Jerusa- 
lem—all out!" 

This sort of thing is a little disturbing to the pilgrim — especially 
the woman pilgrim, who on the journey up from the port has been 
trying to compose her thoughts with becoming solemnity. It would be 
so much more interesting if one could ride up from Jaffa on a caravan 
of swaying camels, but that cannot be done. There is at any rate a 
bit of progress in the Holy Land — a crowd of insistent hackmen who 
tout for custom in front of the railroad station building in the Holy 
City. 

Trutxi to tell, many a cultured visitor to the Holy Land is ex- 
ceedingly glad to turn his back on Jerusalem. At the Church of the 
Holy Sepulcher they are amazed and disgusted to see hundreds 
of dirty Armenian, Greek and Russian peasants sleeping and eating in 
this fane of hoary antiquity, which the flower of Christian chivalry 
strove to wrest from Islam more than a thousand years ago; and, more 



Leaving Palestine. 



357 



wonderful still, Moslem troops were ordered by the Turkish mute- 
sarrif of Jerusalem to keep order among the excited Christian sects, 
lest they shed one another's blood in the square on Easter morn! 

The dirt and confusion, the beggars, the "holy places" shown with 
unblushing effrontery in three places at once, the uproar and extor- 
tion—these things cause travelers to call for horse and pack mule and 
"mukhari," or caravan man, and go rattling out of the Damascus gate 
toward the great silent heart of Palestine where time's frantic rush 
is unknown and men live precisely as they did in the time of Moses 

All other nations advance. Palestine is fast losing the few indus- 
tries she picked up since the crusades. The Levantines on the coast 
will tell one great times are coming; that the perilous landing through 
the rocks in small boats at Jaffa is to be done away with; that the 
solitary little railroad from that port to Jerusalem is to be extended; 
that the outrageous and baffling rates of exchange — the government 
has one, commerce has another, and the Christian postofflces a third — 
will be made uniform, and so on. 

Uproar, confusion, extortion, deception! Truly it is good to get 
outside the gates and in sight of a Bedouin encampment of somber 
camel hair tents — the black "Tents of Kedar" of "Solomon's Song." 
And to be entertained by a shepherd sheik-patriarch, and hear by 
night the old, old songs of love and war. And to watch me vast flocks 
and herds, and see with one's own eyes the daily life of the Penta- 
teuch which the Mosaist scribe has made so familiar to us all. 

The Arab population consists of the hadari, or settled tribes, and 
the bedawi, or nomad shepherds, who live under the patriarchal gov- 
ernment of Abraham. The nomads regard the settled tribes as their 
prey, and levy blackmail accordingly. Between the two races there 
is no comparison in point of physical and moral character. The 
hadari Arabs are poor, spiritless creatures — lazy, dishonest in petty 
ways, yet professing great faith in the "kilhem Frenjeyeh" or "word 
of a Frank." Yet in fact they are suspicious of his every movement, and 
tne travelers will have difficulty in persuading a hadari sheik to 
change a paltry Turkish mejedi. 

These settled Arabs have their little mosques and deresehs, or 
schools in which a squatting turbaned fiteh teaches small boys to 
recite unending suras of the Koran. The hadari are found in Pales- 
tine proper, the Hauran, the Bekaa and north Syria. 

The Bedouins, on the other hand, are found in numerous shifting 
tribal camps to the south of the Dead sea. The bedawi refuse to culti- 
vate the soil, but the hadari do practice a weird sort of agriculture, 
scratching the stony ground with a forked branch dragged by a grum- 
bling camel, and sowing seed which is expected to produce (and com- 
monly does) a most generous crop. 

But it is in the free nomad Bedouin Arabs that one finds true chil- 
dren of nature — stalwart, brave and hospitable, without fixed dwellings, 



358 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



living in patriarchal tribes, ruled by chief shepherd, or man of age, 
and of wealth estimated in sheep and oxen, goats and camels, horses, 
mules, dogs and women. 

The chief occupation of the men is fighting and robbery. They 
may tan a little necessary leather with bark of the pomegranate tree, 
but beyond such minor industries the women do all the work, while 
the men go off fighting or robbing. They spend their lives in the open 
air, tnese children of the desert. Their "club" is a quiet, shady corner, 
where nargilehs may be smoked and a quiet game of "trictrac" in- 
dulged in — a kind of chess known to these nomads from time immem- 
orial. They will sit playing thus the whole day long, uttering no sound 
save an occasional "Ya waled," "O boy" (for more coffee.) 



Egypt. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Egypt, the Land of the Pharaohs. 

ALEXANDRIRA. 

Arrive Thursday, April 21st, noon. Leave Wednesday, April 27th, 
1 p. m. Give your shore baggage to your steward by 10 a. m. at 
latest, to be taken on deck and placed with the baggage for Cairo. 
Lunch at 11 and 12 a. m. Get your hotel cards before landing; they 
will be distributed on promenade deck, port side, as soon as ship 
anchors and they are brought on board. Land in small boats, and 
three special trains start at once from the pier, arriving in Cairo in 
three and one-half hours. On arrival in Cairo passengers will kindly 
point out their baggage to the scores of porters, who will carry it to 
their hotel omnibus and will drive them to their respective hotels. 
Dinner about 7:30 p. m. at most of the hotels. 

HERBERT E. CLARK. 

Civilization began in the great river valleys of the Euphrates, the Nile 
and the Hoang-Ho. In Egypt there were men who could read and 
write and who had a developed government and art nearly 3,000 years 
before Christ. For us it is the land of the Pharaohs, of Joseph and 
Moses ; the slavery and the deliverance of Israel from the kingdom of the 
south, on which the kings of Judea were tempted to lean, or with which 
they fought; the land where Alexander founded one of the greatest of 
ancient cities and called it by his name; where the largest of ancient 
libraries was gathered by the Ptolemies, one of whom carried through the 
Greek translation of the Old Testament, which was called the Sepiuagint, 
because there were seventy translators, which the apostles used and 
quoted. 

In Egypt Joseph and Mary took refuge when they fled from Bethle- 
hem at the warning of the angel. Here, very early, the seed of Chris- 
tian life took root, and Alexandria became the center of a great school of 
Christian learning, in which such men as Clement, Athanasius and Origen 
were leaders. In time of persecution, 1 44,000 Christians sealed their 



360 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

faith with their lives. The monasticism of the church began in the 
Egyptian desert, where hermits lived in caves or associated themselves in 
bands. 

The valley of the Nile, overflowed and fertilized by the river, which 
is fed in Abyssinia by rain and the snow on the great mountains of cen- 
tral Africa, was the granary of Rome. When the wheat ships failed, 
the crowds in the Roman tenements starved. It was in a grain ship of 
Alexandria that Paul came from Malta to Puteoli on his way to trial in 
Rome. Today these rich valley lands between the deserts are compet- 
itors of our own south in raising cotton. 

The ruins of Egypt are the grandest in the world. Rameses, the op- 
pressor of Israel, in whose court Moses was educated in all the wisdom 
of the Egyptians, was the greatest of builders. Pyramids, obelisks, huge 
statues of kings and gods and lofty pillared temples were on a scale else- 
where unknown. Under the Roman rule Christianity overcame and 
destroyed the heathen faiths. Later came the wave of Saracen con- 
quest and overwhelmed Christianity. But there is still a remnant of the 
ancient church of the ancient Egyptian race, known today as Copts. But 
that church had lost its faith ; had ceased to hold fast to the word of God, 
and had drifted away until it was almost lost in the darkness. 

Efforts have been made to bring the light back to Egypt. As early 
as 1 750 the Moravian church began work; but it found a barren field. 
Then the church missionary society of England sent missionaries, includ- 
ing Samuel Gobat, afterwards bishop in Jerusalem, with the hope of re- 
forming and rebuilding the ancient Christian church. But after almost 
twenty-five years they admitted that they had adhered too closely to their 
instructions not to meddle with the organizations of the Coptic church, and 
withdrew the missionaries. Just at that time a Protestant missionary, 
sent from Damascus to regain his health, saw the needy field and made 
such representations to his board that the Reform church, in November, 
1855, sent out Rev. Thomas McCague, D. D., to begin what is now 
known as the American mission in Egypt. There was a translation of 
the scriptures in Arabic, but it was very imperfect. An entirely new 
translation was made from the original by missionaries of the American 



Egypt. 



361 



board — Dr. Eli Smith, and afterwards the lamented Dr. Van Dyke, who 
has given the bible in the Arabic language to 200,000,000 people. 
Perhaps there is no better translation of the bible in the world, true to the 
text and fully and beautifully expressing the original. 

Fifty-three pastors, with their congregations, are scattered up and 
down the Nile, from Alexandria to Assouan, constituting four Presby- 
teries. It has also entered the Soudan to open the doors of the dark con- 
tinent, and there are little bands of worshipers 600 miles farther up. 
The only common schools worthy of the name are the American mission 
schools, which are supported mostly by the contributions of the people. 
The government system does not yet touch the common people. 

Modern Egypt is prosperous and contented under British rule. Tax- 
ation has been reduced, and great public works have been carried through. 
The Nile dam at Assouan has greatly extended the field of cultiva- 
tion. Cairo, in one view of it, "is a sort of eastern Paris, with the first cen- 
tury still living and moving through the twentieth." In another it is "a 
maelstrom of conflicting crowds and civilizations." In a third, it has 
become one of the great winter resorts for Europe and America, with nu- 
merous and splendid hotels. 

On account of the bubonic plague in Alexandria we were hurried 
from the landing place to the special train, and saw little of the great port 
of the land of the Pharaohs. We were surprised to find a train equipped 
with all modern conveniences awaiting our occupancy. The first land- 
mark sought out On approaching Alexandria is Pompey's pillar, of which 
everyone has heard. It is the only important ancient relic to be seen in 
Alexandria, and is not very ancient, as things go in Egypt. Besides, it 
is wrongly named. Nothing very certain is known about its history, ex- 
cept that it is not what it was once so popularly supposed to be, the 
monument over the tomb of Pcmpey the Great. It once bore a statute 
of the emperor Diocletian, erected in 302 A. D. Its height, variously 
given, is 88 feet, of which 68 feet are in the shaft. Lest we despise 
Pompey's pillar for its newness and insignificance, let us remember that 
this great shaft of red granite was brought here in a single block, many 
hundred miles, from upper Egypt — a task which would not be de- 



362 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



spised by modern engineers. Here, too, was the great library, the loss 
of which is the constant grief of scholars. In fact, there were three 
libraries, and all were burned. The largest was that consumed in 
Caesar's time, but the one best known was that destroyed six centuries 
later by Caliph Omar. 

At Alexandria we were near Rosetta, on one of the mouths of the 
Nile, where, in 1 799, Boussard, a French engineer, while excavating at 
Fort St. Julien, nearby, discovered the famous Rosetta stone, now in 
the British museum, which proved to be the key to unlock the literary and 
historic treasures of the Egyptian inscriptions. It is a stone 3 feet and 9 
inches in height by 2 feet 4 1 -2 inches in width and 1 1 inches in thick- 
ness. At the top are part of fourteen lines in hieroglyphics, below are 
thirty-two lines in another, and then unknown species of script, while at 
the bottom are fifty-four lines in Greek and uncial letters. 

The; Greek, which was easily readable, told that the stone was set up 
in 195 B. C, in honor of Ptolemy Epiphanes, by the priests of Memphis, 
on whose behalf he had remitted certain taxes. It was soon conjectured 
that the other two inscriptions contained the same wording, and some 
years afterward Champolhon, a French scholar, succeeded in finding the 
combination which made it possible to read the Egyptian monument. It 
is well to remember this as we begin the ascent of the Nile, and before we 
look upon the hieroglyphics themselves, even though we passed Rosetta 
itself as of little present interest. 

At the mouth of the Nile is lower Egypt, or the Delta. The delta 
is so named from its resemblance to the Greek letter D, which is a tri- 
angle, and is made by the numerous mouths of the river, of which only 
two are navigable. At the apex of the delta is Cairo, 1 30 miles above 
Alexandria. 

It was a low, flat country through which we passed up the delta of 
the Nile, but one of great fertility. Palm trees were standing in gigan- 
tic stateliness. It would not have been Egypt without them. They 
stood out slender and graceful and clean cut against the sky, like giant 
bushes. 



Egypt. 



365 



There had been railroading in Syria, but not such as this, for the 
touch of England was here. From the moment we step on shore at 
Alexandria we felt it, as we had at Gibraltar. One may know in gen- 
eral that it is good to be an Anglo-Saxon, but not until he has walked 
and eaten and lived for a few days in some of the other lands that are 
not Anglo-Saxon can he appreciate why it is good, and if one would 
feel the contrast at its height, let him go from Jerusalem to Alexandria — 
twenty-four hours apart in travel, but twenty centuries apart in time. 

From the brisk activities of the railroad terminal we started imme- 
diately for Cairo, "up" in the south. The country was perfectly flat — 
no stony hills and mountains, as in Palestine, and at once we were in 
the midst of the ceaseless irrigation that we never lost sight of, except 
within the cities, during our entire stay in that land. Into trenches cut 
into the flat fields water is being emptied hour after hour, day after day, 
year after year, by the tireless, brown skinned, almost naked toilers who 
save the land at this price of eternal vigilance. The ways in which the 
water is brought into the irrigating ditches are many and primitive. 
One picturesque apparatus was like the old fashioned New England 
well sweep. Later we saw two men standing by a well, one on each 
side, and swinging down into it a sack suspended by two ropes until the 
sack was filled with water, then hoisting on their ropes they swung the 
sack up and emptied it into the trench. They kept this up with a 
rhythmical swing, quenching the thirst of the sunbaked ground. 

We had thought of Egypt as a narrow strip of arable land on each 
side of the Nile. It was a surprise to find the Nile delta a great area, 
nearly 200 miles from east to west and nearly 1 00 miles from north to 
south, spread out as level as a floor except for the embankments and 
canals which controlled the irrigation. 

Immense fields of waving grain stood ready for the harvesters. 
Every foot of ground is utilized and productive. We have heard it 
said that for thousands of years this delta has been the garden spot of 
the world; but seeing is believing, and we believe it. The villages were 
composed of tumbledown mud huts that looked as if they would wash 
away in the first rain that fell upon them. Near them were desolate 



366 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



little cemeteries. The mounds of the dead were more pathetic in their 
brown unsodded barrenness than the burial places of any other country 
we had yet seen. But they were not more primitive than the little mud 
houses of the living. Was it from any such homes in Egypt that the 
captive children of Israel broke their bonds and turned toward *he land 
of promise? A bevy of busy brickmakers were seen from the car win- 
dow, fashioning the gray brown clay of the country into cubes for build- 
ing, making very real the record of those Israelitish captives who were 
made "to serve with rigor," and whose lives were made "bitter with 
hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the 
field." The bricks now made are dark colored and somewhat cubical 
in form. We do not know whether they were "bricks without straw" 
or not, but as the principal crop is wheat and barley there are great 
quantities of straw for use. 

The Nile abounds in small boats, the sails of which are triangular 
and very sharp angled; the spar for spreading the sail is about twice the 
length of the boat, made of one beam or spliced, suspending a third of 
the way from it to a short stubby mast, and sloping back high into the air 
at an angle of about 45 degrees. As these sailboats came toward us, 
their sails, seen obliquely, looked like arrow points, and were reflected 
far down in the water as sharply as they cut the sky above. Water- 
wheels all along the way are a common sight. We pass Bedouin tents 
and camps of gypsies and wandering tribes, but strangely these people 
seemed at home here and not out of place, and their condition did not 
arouse sympathy and pity as did the people of Palestine, for on every 
hand was an abundance. The fields and the roadsides teemed with 
bountiful harvests of grain, grass and fruits. The people seemed well 
fed and as well clothed probably as they chose to be, but their habits 
and half civilized state is deplorable. The Arabian steeds were sleek 
and fat and did not show the overburdened hardships of other animals 
we had seen of late. Ofttimes, unequally yoked, an ox and a camel 
were seen in the same held, but sometimes a camel pulled the plow awk- 
wardly alone. 



Egypt. 



369 



Cano is the largest city in Africa. It has a population of about 
600,000. A very ancient town was located here, but the history of 
Cairo itself does not go back of the middle ages. Its former name was 
Babylon, a name given to it by the Greeks. It was captured by the 
Arabs in 640 and made the capital against Alexandria, where Christian 
influences were strong. It was virtually the seat of the caliphate until 
1517, when it was captured by the Turks. There was an Egypt of the 
Pharaohs, and its cities were Memphis, in lower Egypt, and Thebes, far 
up the Nile ; there was an Egypt of the Ptolemies, and its memories are 
thick about Alexandria; but there was also an Egypt of the caliphs and 
the Mamelukes; and there is the nondescript Egypt of today, and the 
great city of these is Cairo. 

It was 7 p. m. when we reached the station at Cairo and were con- 
veyed in carriages to the various hotels about the city. As we passed 
through the broad, brightly illuminated streets, filled with fine buildings 
and magnificent hotels, could one conceive this to be "the dark continent" 
of which we had heard? Cairo is the Paris of Africa. England's 
hand has been the transforming power, but there are other elements that 
make for tropical ease and luxury and languor, and for our solid com- 
fort as well. The broad, well paved streets remind one of our own city 
streets. Pavements, cafes and well dressed idlers give the Parisian 
touch. There are flowers in profusion, and handsome residences built on 
ample square lines, and stunning equipages and beautiful public gardens. 

I had read that the streets of Cairo were narrow and crooked. This 
is true in the old part, but the part where the tourist lives has wide streets 
and boulevards, comfortable carriages, and every appointment that be- 
longs to luxury. You may take a carriage — and there is a great man 
in gold lace who is ready to call the carriage and see you inside — and 
find almost anything in Cairo. Or, if you prefer, whatever you want 
will be brought to the hotel and spread out before you on the veranda. 

"The most important equipments for a tour of Palestine," says one, 
"are physical endurance and a pocket bible. The first requisite for sight- 
seeing iti Egypt is a dress suit. Sightseeing in Palestine is strenuous — in 
Egypt it is social. When a company of tourists divides, half going to 



25 



370 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Palestine and the other half to Egypt, and comes together again on the 
ship, you can tell to which party an individual belongs as far as you can 
see him on the deck. The one group looks sleek and well fed and wears 
scarabs and Nubian beads ; the other has a nine-fold coat of tan, a sun- 
burnt nose, clothing faded, armor dented in the fray and a general air of 
subdued triumph." 

It is quite astonishing to find how glad you are to see almost anyone 
on shoie, whom you have known on board the ship. When you get on 
deck again you care very little for each other; but, after you have been 
separated for two weeks and meet on shore you are eager to exchange ex- 
periences. So we found it as we came to the hotel in Cairo, and the re- 
union on the veranda was merry with greetings and thrilling with tales of 
adventure. It was late in April when we reached Cairo, just the close 
of the winter season, most of the tourists having already departed ; but the 
climate was very tolerable except for one day when the desert wind was 
blowing. This made the air very hot, and filled it with dust or sand. 
Shortly after lunch on this day we went to our rooms and noticed that, 
where the windows had been open and exposed to the direction of the 
wind, a little heap of sand had gathered on the carpet, and the room was 
full of the fine, penetrating dust from the desert. We could appreciate, 
in some degree, what such a storm on the desert itself must mean. This 
strong wind lasted but a short time, however, and the following day it 
was again cool and comfortable. 

A large company found comfortable and even luxuriant accommoda- 
tion at the Grand Continental, a spacious hotel fronting a principal street, 
and covering an entire block. And a short distance above was the Shep- 
herd s, another elegant hotel. On the verandas of these one may sit and 
see the world go by. The tourist sees so many forms of life assembled 
there that he wonders why he has thought it necessary to go anywhere else. 
One of our party describes the scene as follows : 

To sit on the stone terrace of Shephard's of an afternoon and watch 
the real "streets of Cario" is an experience. A kaleidoscope of life is 
shifting ceaselessly before your eyes. A Hindoo palmist comes to the 
edge of the terrace and implores you to let him, for a few piasters, 
reveal your character and your future. A wedding procession of car- 



Egypt. 



371 



riages, lavishly adorned, passes down the street. Dog carts spin by 
and a pet monkey runs about over the terrace collecting coppers. 
Piles of fezzes on the pavement are offered >.or sale. Boy acrobats 
run and leap backward and forward in front of pedestrians, ready, 
upon the slightest encouragement, to give a performance. A man 
sits unconcernedly at a marble topped table by the curb, nargileh 
standing on the table pavement, smoking contentedly. Fly whisps are 
moving busily in the hands of natives and foreigners alike, for unless 
these feathery brushes of split cane are whisking constantly about 
your head and face, the flies of Egypt will settle down upon you as 
in old times of plague. A placid lady of the desert passes, an artist's 
study in coal black; great, well-formed ears, massive side locks, sunken 
nose, thick lips and great piles of black hair, making a striking con- 
trast to the painted Parisian women driving by in open carriages. 

And within, moving noiselessly about the great dining hall in their 
pointed, red morocco slippers, were coal black negro waiters, whose 
costumes first startled, then fascinated. A glimpse of black stocking 
showed between the top of the pointed red slippers and the bottom 
of the immense and voluminous white linen bloomer. Turkish trousers 
which came up like aprons far above the waist, some of the more 
fancy having a touch of embroidery over the hips. About the waist, 
which was just below the arm pits, was wrapped a soft silken sash. 
Above this was a bob-tailed Eton jacket of hunting pink, over an open 
necked waistcoat of the same color. A white linen shirt, worn with 
an immense white "choker" so high in the back that it threw the kinky 
black head well forward, and a very large white lawn bow, were sur- 
mounted by oval black features crowned with a fez. Isn't that better 
than the commonplace dress clothes worn by waiters at home? As we 
passed down the long hall of the hotel, to or from the bedrooms, a 
black, deferential setward sitting barefooted in the shadow would 
spring to his feet and slip on his shoes, remaining shod until the 
guests had passed, when he would again take his ease. An electric 
switch turned on at the doorway of our bedroom threw a warm 
flood of light over an appatrment, some 25 by 35 feet in size. The twin 
bedsteads were draped with a canopy of netting, an electric lighted 
mahogany writing desk invited to unlimited editorial labors. And 
this was Egypt! 

The Sphinx and the great pyramid Cheops are at the end of a beauti- 
ful seven-mile drive or trolley run from Cairo, along a superb roadbed, 
and under an archway of trees. The next morning after our arrival in 
Cairo we drove in carriages and met on the way women sitting on low- 
wheeled, springless carts drawn by a donkey, which luxury few native 
women of Palestine enjoy, but themselves are carriers of burdens. The 
meat costumes of the Egyptian peasants make them look like prosperous 



372 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



farmers as compared with the people of Syria. The ordinary costume of 
the laborer consists principally of a pair of cotton pantaloons, a cotton shirt 
and a long robe extending to the feet, that is, shaped something like a 
nightshirt and is open all the way down the front. This is often gathered 
up around the waist when work is going on. This robe is made of vari- 
ous materials, according to the wealth and taste of the owner, many using 
a material which at a distance looks like ordinary blue drilling, such as is 
sometimes used for overalls. 

. There were women closely veiled, and some wore the peculiar nose 
ornament, composed of a cylinder with three small serrated wheels upon 
it, holding up the veil. Donkeys hauling carts were almost concealed 
beneath the great loads of green grass upon them. Water mills and 
well sweeps by the score dotted the land on both sides of the driveway. 
Sheep and goats grazing were tended by an ebony shepherd. European 
green or blue shutters looked oddly out of place on the mud houses 
clustered together. 

Cheops is the ideal pyramid, for it is the one you most frequently 
see photographed. It is a familiar sight caught in the distance through 
the avenue of trees, though viewed for the first time on the Egyptian 
plains. We leave the hard roadbed of the avenue and drive through 
the sanc'y waste close to the pyramid, and then prepare to climb to its 
summit, explore the interior or to ride a camel a short distance to the 
sphinx. The beasts are squatting affably, awaiting our pleasure to 
alight. There was a big wooden post at both the front and back of the 
saddle, corresponding to pommel and cantle, with a comfortable car- 
peted seat between, and even stirrups were there. The camel rises on 
two feet at a time, but when standing on four feet you feel most secure. 
Dismounting is a little worse. Your driver begins to beat your camel's 
forelegs with his stick and argues with him. The camel bends, and 
you are shot suddenly forward; more beating follows, and you are 
precipitated in the opposite direction. It is said that the traveling motion 
of the camel produces a sensation like seasickness, but the ride given 
at this time is but a short one and no experience of this kind was realized. 
The great pyramid of Cheops looks very high when you stand just 



Climbing the Great Pyramid, Egypt. 



Egypt. 



375 



at its base. It is 45 1 feet high, and rises at an angle of 5 1 degrees and 
50 minutes. The large stones of which it is constructed vary in thick- 
ness, being on an average of perhaps three feet. The interior, entered 
forty-nine feet above the base of the north face, contains several cham- 
bers, one of which, called the king's chamber, is thirty-four feet three 
inches long, seventeen feet wide, nineteen feet high and contains a 
sarcophagus of red granite. 

Tickets to ascend may be purchased at a little office close by for 
about 50 cents. Then one is besieged by natives offering assistance. Two 
Arabs holding your hands scramble onto the ledge above you and pull 
you up, while the third man pushes from behind. Part way up, they 
slop and beg for bakshish, but it is well to pay them when their work is 
finished. A party, asserting his right to climb the pyramid unassisted, 
flourished his cane vigorously from right to left among his would be 
assistants, who in return hurled a torrent of Egyptian ejaculations and 
maledictions upon his head. Once on the top there is to be seen such a con- 
trast as nowhere else can greet the eye. The elevation is so great and the 
land is sc level that one can see for many miles. On one side lies the 
fertile delta ; on the other is the barren desert. Life and death, past and 
future, the world that has been and the world to come — one may have a 
vision of all of them from the top of the great pyramid of Cheops. 

Beside the pyramids, the sphinx seemed small. It is seventy feet from 
the floor, between the paws to the top of the head. The body is 1 40 feet 
long, and the paws protrude fifty feet more. The sands of the desert 
drift continually about it, and necessitate the occasional uncovering of the 
sphinx. It is hewn out of solid rock, and has stood there somewhere 
near 4,000 years. It is the image of Horus, the sun god — the god of 
the dead sun come to life. It is the image of the morning, the symbol 
of hope. It stands expectant of a new day after each night, when the 
sun god has gone to the under world, and is making his journey through 
its twelve stages. As one stands before this god of the rising sun, this 
open eyed prophet of the dawn, and remembers its mute witness of the 
unclouded morning for nearly 4,000 years, and sees its calm, perpetual 
gaze, still in expectation of another sun rise and yet another, he makes 



376 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



for himself a new measure of eternity. We explore the vaults near the 
sphinx, and near it looked down in the deep dry well. For a trifle a 
native will find his way from the outside of the well to the bottom, and 
there remove the rubbish from the decoration which can be plainly seen 
from above. 

We delegates from Nebraska planned to have our pictures taken, with 
the ancient Cheops as a background, but we failed to meet at one time, 
as we also failed at the Grand Continental, and no picture of us in Egypt 
was obtained. In the afternoon we visited the tombs of the Caliphs and 
the Mamelukes, several mosques and a fine edifice built of onyx. We 
spent some little time at the Citadelle, from which there is a good view. 
One can see other pyramids dimly in the distance. We found our car- 
riage with some difficulty, and while waiting for our companions, were 
surrounded by venders and others insisting in doing all sorts of little 
services, such as putting the carriage top up or down, and for these un- 
requested services demanding bakshish. 

Saturday morning we drove to an ancient part of the city and to the 
quaint old Coptic church, where it is said Mary stayed while Jesus was 
an infant in Egypt. This old church stands in a crowded part of the 
town, among quaint old houses with lattice windows, and is at the end of 
an alley closed with a gate. An old man opens this gate with the queer- 
est old wooden key imaginable. We were conducted freely about by. a 
priest or attendant, and shown the blackened pictures of saints, which 
are certainly objects of veneration, and then taken down to the crypt 
and to the shrme, where the virgin is said to have reposed after a flight 
from Bethlehem. 

We then went to the isle of Roda. Here Moses is said to have been 
found. It is an interesting island, reached from Cairo by a poled ferry. 
The water of the Nile here being quite shallow, we asked the guide for 
bulrushes, whereupon he broke twigs off from an evergreen tree and 
presented them to us. Our guide was a man of intelligence and knew 
much of the ancient biblical history of the Nile and of Egypt. Bidding 
us observe the pyramids in the distance, one of our party inquired of him, 
"By whom were they built, and if he were yet living," etc. The guide, 



Egypt. 



377 



recognizing that the question was not merely for information, kindly 
invited him to partake of his lunch of flat black cake, overspread with 
some oily mixture that he was eating, and all questioning of the kind 
ceased. 

Here one may see close at hand and in operation, which may be 
seen all along the Nile, the sakieh, or water wheel, for drawing water 
with camel or buffalo. The animal, blindfolded, goes around and around, 
and the water is raised with a wheel, to which earthen jars are fastened. 
A yet more popular means of drawing water is the shadoaf, or well 
sweep, at which men work all day long, apparently never stopping. This 
water is drawn for irrigating purposes, and is emptied at once into 
ditches on a higher level. 

On this island is the mlometer, where the Nile has been measured 
for many centuries. As the overflow of the river makes the fertility of 
Egypt, the height of the overflow was long made the sole basis of the 
tax rate ; and it still is taken into account. The mlometer is a circular 
building with a well in the middle, in which the water rises to the level 
of the river outside. 

On our return we drive beneath the extending branches of an immense 
banyan tree, which affords a good protection from the hot sun while we 
remain. We pass the king's palace with beautiful grounds, and farther 
along drive through narrow streets. 

The Muskey is where the native bazaars are located. There was a 
dense crowd of native life in this market place, and wares of all kinds 
were displayed. A locksmith's goods were piled on the ground by his side ; 
pavement barbers were shaving the heads of their customers or clipping 
their hair; switches of human hair were on sale, and bathing suits of vari- 
ous descriptions. The streets are narrow. We stop before closed doors, 
a guide leads the way through a dark passage, and we are m a large ba- 
zaar. Here one may buy almost anything Egypt possesses. We make 
a few purchases of souvenir spoons, brass finger bowls and other articles, 
and return to our hotel not far distant. 

In the afternoon we take carriages for Heliopolis, about four miles 
from Cairo. Heliopolis, now called Mataneh, is said to be the On of 



378 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



the scriptures where Moses was born. When we left Palestine we 
thought we were leaving the land of the bible, but each step in Egypt re- 
veals history recorded within its sacred pages, and what a revelation there 
yet may be found within its silent borders to verify the truthfulness of the 
bible record. 

Heie Joseph and Mary are said to have rested with the infant Christ. 
Of course, the identical spot is located, and we were shown a tree which 
is said to have sheltered them under its branches ; while, near by, is one of 
the many water wheels so often seen in Egypt. 

The legends concerning it are referred to by many well-known 
authors, including Thevenot, Tischendorf, Wilkinson and Clarke and 
Sandys. Its trunk at the base measured over seven yards in circum- 
ference. In 1596, Bernadin Amico saw a tree on this spot whose trunk 
had the appearance of a capital letter Y, inverted. One half of this 
fell in 1656, and the other half some time later. A sprout of the 
trunk was planted on the roots, and became the tree that has but 
recently fallen. 

As to the authenticity of the tree as the stopping place of the 
Holy Family, there is little room for doubt, and it has been revered 
as sacred for centuries by Christian and infidel alike. In the Apocry- 
pha, where an account is given of the infancy of Christ, it is written: 
"Coming out of Heliopolis, the divine exiles directed their course to- 
ward a sycamore that stood near a spring of sweet water." But one 
spring existed in the suburbs, and this was the one that became cele- 
brated soon after. It had the property of giving off a sweet odor, and 
also on account of some mineral properties, was beneficial for the 
sick. On account of this peculiarity the spring and the spot were ac- 
curately identified. In the earliest days of the Christian Church a 
chapel was built here for the convenience of pilgrims. It disappeared, 
however, when the Mohammedan invaders swept over the country. 
Since tnat day, crescent and scimitar have held undisputed sway, and 
the shrine was never rebuilt. 

The Coptic Christians (of the ancient Egyptian Christian Church) 
still retain in their calendar of holy days the festival of the dedication 
of the Churcn of the Tree of the Virgin. The pilgrims assembled 
at Mastorod, pass the night in prayer, and the next morning all at- 
tend mass. Then they march in a long procession to the sacred tree, 
where time-honored religious rites are celebrated. The day is every- 
where one of great rejoicing among these primitive Coptic Christians, 
and it is made the excuse for processions and excursions to shrines 
and into the country. 

There are many quaint and beautiful legends connected with the 
childhood of Christ, which have been preserved to us among the 



Egypt. 



381 



fragmentary chronicles of the early Church. While many of these 
lack the merit of authenticity, they are especially interesting as illus- 
trations of a certain class of religious literature, which was more or 
less popular in an age when every monk who had the gift of writing 
deemed it his duty to contribute some odd, fantastical picture of his 
own to the mass already in existence. Monkish ingenuity has so sur- 
rounded the story of the Divine Child with myth, legend and allegory, 
and so fancifully transformed the simple facts, that one ceases to 
wonder why the great councils of the early Church should have con- 
demned and rejected a very large part of the literature of the first 
three centuries as wholly untrustworthy. 

According to the legends, the Holy Family, wearied by their long 
and toilsome flight from Judea, halted to rest under the wide-spreading 
branches of this great sycamore, outside the gates of Heliopolis. All 
day they had been threatened by robbers, and now they were sorely 
pressed, expecting momentarily to be overtaken. Beneath the tree, 
however, they hoped to remain undiscovered, as it was almost evening. 
Presently the robbers were heard approaching, and discovery seemed 
inevitable. As the bandits came into view, the tree (according to the 
legend), opened its trunk, and Joseph, Mary and the Divine Child 
entered into the cavity, which was sufficiently large to accommodate 
them. The tree then closed up and remained so until the robbers had 
passed by, when it again opened. Under its shade the exiles passed 
the remainder of the night. In the morning, a stream of clear, spark- 
ling water burst forth miraculously from among its roots, to allay the 
thirst of the travelers. Tree and fountain remained for many genera- 
tions as testimony of the wonders that had been performed there, and 
the monks added, "the waters of the spring were effective in the 
healing of many sick." 

With many a flourish on the time-stained pages of the illuminated 
chronicles, the legend adds that the Holy Family searched long for 
some hut to shelter them from the night winds, as they wished to re- 
main for awhile ; but were unsuccessful. The few people in the neigh- 
borhood were without room enough for their own households, or were 
suspicious of these strangers from a far off country. At last the trav- 
elers returned to the tree, and, as they were preparing to pass the 
night in the open air, were surprised to see the tree again open, this 
time from roots to branches, forming a comfortable lodging. They 
remained in this living house for several days. Fruits grown miracu- 
lously, and the spring of silver water provided for their wants. 

The vicinity of the Virgin Tree had been for centuries a place 
of profound peace, and the jars and discords of the world seemed to 
have passed it by. Pilgrims came reverently on holy days, or some 
Arab horseman dismounted to rest his weary limbs beneath the shade 
of the sycamore, before he continued on his journey to some distant 
oasis. At last the quiet was rudely broken. Napoleon made his famous 
invasion of Egypt, and many stirring events occurred in the vicinity. 
General Gleben, at the battle of Heliopolis, with a force of but ten 



382 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



thousand men, broke the swift charges of eighty thousand Turks, and 
sent them riding wildly to the deserts, in disorderly retreat. The 
following morning, Kleber, surrounded by a staff brilliant with decora- 
tions and glimmering with gold lace, drew rein before the tree. For 
awhile Kleber gazed in silence, as if his mind for the moment were 
far removed from thoughts of conquest and scenes of carnage. Then 
he suddenly stepped forward, drawing his sword, and with the point 
he carved on a low-hung branch the word, "Kleber." Others, like 
schoolboys, have also sought to gain an earthly fame by connecting 
their names with this noted spot." 

Near the village stands the pillar of On, 67 1 -2 feet high and 6 feet 
broad at the base, and supposed to be the oldest Egyptian obelisk. The 
two largest obelisks were erected by Sesostris in Heliopolis; the height of 
these was 1 80 feet. Here also were erected the two known as Cleopatra's 
needles, which are now in London and New York. The New York 
obelisk was presented to America by the khedive of Egypt and was set up 
in Central park in 1 88 1 . They are made of the rose red granite of 
Syene, and were originally erected in front of the great temple of Heliopo- 
lis by tho Egyptian king Thothmes III. Near the remaining obe lisk was 
a field of barley ripe and ready for the harvesters. While a native 
woman was taking to task a man who had taken a head or two of wheat 
to examine the quality of the grain, another stepped out of our carriage 
and quickly gathered a handful. The kernels were full and plump and 
of a good color. A field of grain growing so perfectly and evenly is a 
beautiful sight, and the^e are many such in Egypt. 

Returning we pass where excavations are being made. Men, women 
and children were carrying out the earth in pans or baskets, and on the 
military grounds were numerous companies of soldiers passing to and fro 
in their daily exercises. As we neared the city a funeral procession, ap- 
parently that of a person of rank or distinction, passed by. We leave 
the carriage near our hotel and walk for a short distance. The streets 
are filled with people; music fills the air; a great wedding procession is 
passing. The party is mounted on camels, greatly decorated. From 
one side of the bridle to the saddle hangs a deep fringe. Minute mirrors 
are in the gay cloth that covers the camel, from which hangs gold fringe. 
One camel bears a unique little house, probably the carriage of the groom. 



Egypt. 



383 



Leading each camel is a brightly attired camel boy, and at the side the 
servants walked. It was indeed a dramatic sight, and passed us all too 
quickly. 

Passing across the street, I picked up a horseshoe, an omen of good 
luck. We remember the story that the loss of a horseshoe caused the loss 
of a battle, and the loss of that battle decided the fate of a nation. I 
cannot affirm that the one found by me in the streets of Cairo is the iden- 
tical horseshoe ; but I placed it with other curios, and value it as a unique 
souvenir of the place. 

A few miles from Cairo is a large ostrich farm. Ostrich feathers are 
sold on the streets and on hotel verandas at very reasonable prices by 
venders with a persistency that baffles all refusal. Various kinds of beads 
are for sale. A large blue bead worn by the natives, and often seen on 
animals, is to avert the evil eye. It is also an article of merchandise. 

There are yet reminiscences of the former plagues of Egypt. Flies 
are as persistent in their attentions as we ourselves find them during our 
warm autumn weather. A commo r article for use and for sale was a 
bunch of palm leaves attached to a handle. People walked the streets 
vigorously swinging these fly "scarers." Children, well knowing the 
hopelessness of the effort, made slight attempt to drive them off. The 
flea is found in all eastern lands, and the inhabitants seem to be on 
friendly terms with him, for he apparently gives the natives very little 
trouble. With the stranger it is different, the flea accompanying him to 
his great annoyance and misery. 

The roomy auditorium of the American mission was filled to over- 
flowing on Sunday morning, which was as balmy as a June day at home. 
We passed through the thronged streets of the city, to the music of the 
melodious clinking of the brass cups of lemonade men, the crowds of 
fezzed Egyptians courteously making way for the American and Eng- 
lish visitors. Dr. Watson, of London, who had spoken the memorial 
consecration message in the convention tent at the closing service in Jeru* 
salem, now preached to us in Egypt a sermon of self sacrifice as the 
principle of all life — a sermon that sent men and women back to their 



384 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



hotels tingling with shame and stirred with a purpose to be more worthy 
of the appeal so masterfully made. 

Rev. John Giffen, of the American Mission, which is under the con- 
trol of the United Presbyterian church of America, welcomed the pilgrim 
visitors in this jubilee year of the mission's work, the fiftieth. He told 
of the 150 Sunday schools in Egypt, which gather 10,000 pupils every 
Sunday for the study of the international lessons. A little band of 
workers was worshiping that morning, 600 miles above Khartum. The 
Soudan, key to the dark continent, has already been entered for Christ. 
The Mohammedans are becoming accessible to the gospel. Monday 
evening a meeting for Mohammedans, led by a man trained for nine 
years in a Mohammedan university, is devoted to studying the way of 
salvation. 

Monday morning we visited the Gizeh museum, one of the world's 
wonder houses of archeology. On the lower floor more statuary and 
chariots, stones and necklaces and many things which we saw but re- 
membered no more. But the interest in these relics paled before what 
we were to see in the mummy chamber on one of the upper floors of the 
museum. We had been looking at statues of kings; here were the kings 
themselves. Can you think of what it is to lean over a glass casket and 
look down into the face of the Pharaoh who said, "Behold, the people 
of the children of Israel are more mighty than we. Come, let us deal 
wisely with them." . . . Therefore they did set over them task- 
masters to afflict them with their burdens? There is reason to believe 
that the mummy of Rameses II. is the body of that Pharaoh; Seti I. is 
there, and Rameses III. Off to the right is a mummy not yet loosened 
from its fragile linen bandages; the Pharaoh known as Menephtah, 
found not with the other kings, but in a different place. And some be- 
lieve that this is Pharaoh of the Exodus, whose heart was so many times 
hardened, and whose hosts pursued the Israelites until that tragic moment 
when "the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, 
even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea." But 
the face of Rameses II., which had been made familiar by photographs 
and flashed on enormous canvases by lecturers throughout the world, is 



Egypt. 



385 



a face that holds one's attention. That thin drawn throat must have 
swallowed hard ; those merciless lips must have come close together when 
he sent out to the women of Egypt that message of death to all new born 
Heb rews, "If it be a son, then ye shall kill him." 

Several of the party took a short trip up the Nile to Memphis and 
the pyramids of Sakkhara. After a little over an hour of steaming 
the landing stage close to the village of Bedraschin is reached, where 
the party ride on donkeys through palm groves to the site of the ancient 
Memphis, where a view of the colossal statue of Rameses is had. 

During the past few years explorations of the soil of Karnak, near 
Luxor, in upper Egypt, have been carried on by an Egyptian service of 
antiquities. The object designed was to uncover the great temple of 
Ammon, set up again its pillars and restore it to the condition it was in 
when it began to fall into decay. A perfect treasury of ancient Egyptian 
art has been discovered — a pit filled with statues of kings and their 
wives and children. They had been cast into the pit as if by some revo- 
lution, and not stored there with any attempt at order. More than 
8,000 of these exquisitely finished statues have already been raised. 
Some of them are in gilded bronze, and others in granite, beryl, basalt 
and petrified wood. 



26 



Bay of Naples. 



387 



CHAPTER XXV. 

The Bay of Naples and Environment. — Homeward Bound on the 

Kurfurst. 

As we climbed the steps up in the side of the Kurfurst at Alex- 
andria we saw within the deck rail men in fezzes and natty blue blouses, 
with shining brass belt buckles, reading "Garde Quarantinaire." By the 
side of one of the ship's officers, at the head of the stairway, stood a uni- 
formed official, his arm decorated with chevron of three gold stripes, 
who looked keenly at each person as he snapped the sharply clinking 
hand register that kept tally of all who embarked. 

We gained a new idea of the size of the Mediterranean during the 
two days' passage from Alexandria to Naples, over the route for so many 
years taken by the Alexandrian corn ships, which supplied food for the 
teeming millions of the imperial city of Rome. We had been so long 
on land in Palestine and Egypt that very many were no longer immune 
against seasickness, and many were compelled to take to their berths, 
while others who managed to keep about smiled ghastly smiles when 
inquiries were made as to the condition of their health. 

On the return voyage, as on the way out, meetings were held from 
time to time. Special notice number three reads as follows: 

A meeting for women only will be held in the main dining saloon 
this Wednesday afternoon at three o'clock. Mrs. J. W. Barnes will 
tell the story of the International primary and junior work. Mrs. 
Mary Foster Bryner will tell the story of the Sunday school work in 
Mexico. Mrs. Walker will tell the story of the organized primary work 
in the west. Separate meetings are called in order to accommodate all 
those who wish to attend, as the dining room is not sufficiently large 
to accommodate all at one time. 

THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE. 

As we approached Naples, in the distance rings of smoke were seen 
rising from the burning Vesuvius, and when we had anchored in the bay 



388 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



we were ready to admit with all others that whatever had been said or 
written about the beauty of the bay of Naples was not equal to the 
reality. But our appreciation of the scenery was mixed with some little 
anxiety. Word had been given out that on account of the bubonic 
plague in Alexandria there would be much difficulty in passing the 
quarantine officers in Naples. Careful instructions had been given in 
regard to soiled clothing. We were instructed to take a pillow case 
from our bunks and pack into it all sorts of body linen, flannels, hand- 
kerchiefs and all other articles which we would naturally expect to send 
to a laundry, and tie it tightly, with our name and state room number 
in soft lead pencil on the end of this improvised bag, and turn the pack- 
age over to the tender mercies of the room steward. There was much 
inquiry as to what was the purpose of these instructions. It was said 
that all the bags would be taken ashore, disinfected and fumigated; 
and many of the ladies saw visions of ruined shirt waists and other deli- 
cate garments. The reality proved less distressing than the anticipation. 
So far as I observed, a few rooms, principally those on the upper deck, 
were entered, and the soiled linen thus prepared was removed; but our 
own room was not touched, and so far as I could learn the great majority 
of those who had carefully followed the instructions, found packages 
undisturbed and had the pleasure of returning the articles to their former 
places. The personal inspection at Naples was, however, far more rigid 
than anywhere else. The quarantine officers took stations on the aft 
deck; the "second sitting" at lunch was indefinitely postponed; the ship 
was roped off; every one was summoned from the cabin, reading room 
and all other rooms on the ship, and passed in single file along the gang- 
way. One by one we moved over to the after deck, between a ship's 
officer and a quarantine officer, who called out a number as each one 
passed. The crew and stewards were submitted to even a more careful 
examination, every individual as he passed in line being carefully ex- 
amined, especially under the chin and arm pits, with the idea of discerning 
whether there was soreness or bunches, or other indications of the awful 
bubonic plague. We were greatly relieved when the captain called out: 
"You may go to your staterooms — for there had been rumors of long and 



Bay of Naples. 



389 



weary waiting. Above the laughing exclamations could be heard the 
notes of the bugle call to luncheon. And before nightfall notice came 
that the welcome "suspended permission" had been given, and that any 
passenger who wished might go ashore. 

During the long wait of the afternoon numerous boats had surrounded 
the ship, many of them containing musicians who gave open air concerts 
to the admiring audience whose heads crowded the rail of the great ship. 
One could not but find pleasure in the harmony expressed among these 
itinerant musicians. It spoke volumes for the general cultivation and 
taste of the Italian race. Silver and other coins were freely thrown into 
the outstretched and reversed umbrellas which the pretty girls who 
solicited the contributions held invitingly open for this purpose. We were 
not a great distance from the shore, and very close to a long quay which 
jutted out into the bay. On either side were other ships, some of them 
battleships, and one of them was flying the American flag. It was the 
United States battleship Kentucky, at sight of which there went up a 
mighty chorus of shouts and high pitched yells from the decks of the 
Kurfurst, cheer after cheer; then some one started "Home, Sweet 
Home," and. then "America." 

Afterward we were startled by a tremendous explosion, which was 
followed by others in rapid succession until people rushed in alarm from 
their rooms seeking the cause. It was nothing more or less than a salute 
from the eight-inch guns of our own battleship Kentucky. This gave 
us a vivid impression of what it must be on the ship itself. 

Not far from us lay Sir Thomas Lipton's yacht. We wondered at 
first at the great array of decorations, both on the ships and in the city; 
an array which was plainly visible from the deck of our own steamer. 
We were soon informed that the president of the French republic, Loubet, 
was paying a visit to Italy and was already in Naples. In honor of the 
visiting ruler of France the evening brought an electric illumination of the 
vessels in the bay that turned it into fairy land. Spars and rigging and 
masts and cabins were picked out in glistening points of fire, and on the 
east the moonlight was streaming in silver over Vesuvius. 



390 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Liberty was given at so late an hour that few felt like going ashore 
in a strange city, but, said one of our party, I have often found the most 
interesting experiences under such circumstances, and so, with a few 
friends, I took a boat and soon reached the wharf. It was something of 
a relief to be rid of the pandemonium of eastern life, to which we had 
been so long accustomed. There were no variegated costumes, no flowing 
robes, no bare legs and arms, no gesticulating, shouting Arabs, no babble 
of strange languages ; instead we heard the soft voiced Italian, and wan- 
dered in a city which reminded us of some sections of Paris and of some 
parts of New York. An inquiry could be made and answered, and we 
felt indeed as though we were back in a civilized land. 

Walking along in this comfort and security, our eyes fixed on the 
splendid decorations which had been put in place in honor of the French 
president, I fell a little behind my companions. A boy came running at 
full speed down the middle of the street. When opposite me, as I stood 
on the walk, he turned suddenly to the left and came directly in front of 
me, and as he passed he snatched at my watch chain. The chain 
snapped, leaving the watch safe in my pocket and leaving the bar in my 
button hole. It was a surprise, but I followed him at the top of my 
speed and was gaining rapidly when he ran down a dark side street 
and into an alley. In a strange city with a reputation like that of Naples, 
it did not seem as though the arrest of the thief was worth the risk, and 
I gave up the chase and went back to my companions. On returning to 
the ship after this walk, the story was told, and I was the subject of 
much levity. One man in particular was pointed in his allusions to a 
verdant countryman who was so green that even small boys could run off 
with his watchchain. It was something of a salve to my feelings to learn 
the next day that my friend, who had gone ashore in broad daylight, 
had returned minus both his chain and his watch, having had them both 
taken in the same manner. Of course I was sorry to have him lose his 
watch, but I notice he had very little to say about the episode of the 
preceding evening. Naples seems to have a reputation for this sort of 
thing. The driver of our carriage pointed to the umbrella which lay 
across the floor at our feet, intimating that it would be stolen unless taken 



Bay of Naples. 393 

in our hand. Half a dozen people lost their watches at Naples, and 
many other articles like chains and traveling bags were snatched from 
the traveler in the same way. 

Inside the forward cabin of the Grosser Kurfurst, the pilgrims 
crowded for a farewell meeting, before the chairman and his family 
should leave the ship at Naples, and the "cross Europe" parties should 
begin. Five hundred would stay by the ship until she reached New 
York, but 300 were leaving, and it was a time for regretful farewells. 
To Capt. Reimkasten and Mr. Herbert Clark, the members of the cruise 
presented gold watches, as mementos of their gratitude for the excep- 
tional contribution that these two men had made to the success of the 
cruise. The three members of the central committee, Mr. Warren, 
Mr. Hartshorn and Mr. McCrillis, were taken by surprise when they 
were given handsome albums bound in olive wood from the Holy Land, 
and containing the autographs of the members of the cruise. "It is in- 
deed," said Mr. Warren, ''that this programme is not quite so informal 
as I had supposed." An expression of hearty gratitude was made also 
to Mr. F. H. Jacobs, the director of music from North America, and 
to E. C. Carter, the English director of music. It was the time of 
speech making, congratulation and good fellowship, mingled with a touch 
of sadness, that the end of the cruise was so near. 

Vesuvius varies from 3,900 to 4,300 feet in height, according to 
the condition of the cone, which melts down during some eruptions and is 
built up again by the deposits from others. There have been some fifty 
of these since that which destroyed Pompeii, the most terrible of which, 
in 1631, killed 3,000 people. There has been a somewhat continuous 
eruption since 1895, but without loss of life till of late. One is sur- 
prised, however, to see the volume of lava that has flowed in recent years 
toward Naples. It extends some distance below the observatory, and is 
curled and twisted inconceivably. It has shown singular freaks, too, in 
the levels it has sought; for, while in general it of course flows down- 
ward, it has not always sought the lowest possible channel, but has made 
a track of its own in a somewhat arbitrary manner. An inclined railway 



394 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



ascends the cone, and conveys ten passengers at a time. One car ascends 
while another comes down ; and each track has a single rail on which the 
car balances in a manner apparently most insecure. It is doubtless safer 
than it looks. At the top of the railway one may ascend farther afoot, 
and several of the party walked up to within a few yards of the crater. 

The path which leads to the summit is maintained by the exercise 
of constant care and vigilance. It is frequently closed by lava streams 
which have rolled over it and cooled. These have to be dug out. It is 
not uncommon for a stream of hot lava several feet wide to roll across 
the path after people have gone up. Then they have to go around, 
which is rather a difficult undertaking, or wait until the stream has hard- 
ened sufficiently to bear the weight of a man. Many shoes are ruined 
by walking on hot lava, and steel buckles and other ornaments were 
colored by the gases. 

At the time of our visit, Vesuvius was in a favorable condition for 
inspection, but judging from reports it is in a state of increasing activity. 
It is quite possible, if not probable, that the tragedies of the past years 
may be again repeated, and Vesuvius may once more overwhelm its en- 
tire neighborhood, perhaps including the great city of Naples, fifteen 
miles distant. Dangerous as is Vesuvius at any time, the people of the 
vicinity dare its perils for the allurement of its fertile soil. A ring of 
populous villages encircles it, flourishing vineyards and olive groves extend 
on all sides, and the hand of industry does not hesitate to attack its 
threatening flanks. The intervals between its death-dealing throes are so 
long that the peasants are always ready to dare destruction for the hope 
of winning the means of life from its soil. 

Others of the party had tickets, which entitled them to a ride in a 
small steamer to the beautiful island of Capri, with its blue grotto, 
situated a few miles south of Naples. It is said that without sunshine 
the grotto is not blue, and should the sea be agitated it is impossible to 
enter it, the little arch of rock through which it is reached being so small 
that there is danger of your boat being wrecked. Those of our party 
who took the trip related exciting experiences. 



Bay of Naples. 395 

The bay of Naples, thirty-five miles in circuit, is in form of a cres- 
cent; and the islands projecting beyond the headlands make it almost a 
circle. Around this bay cluster more objects of interest and beauty 
than can be shown by any bay on earth. To the right stands the smoking 
Vesuvius, and to our left on a high prominence the castle of St. Elmo. 
Naples has a population of about 500,000. The people live largely in 
the streets, thousands having no other home. It is depressing to read the 
statistics of the homeless class, but it is less so to see the people them- 
selves. They are lighthearted and free from care, indolent and buoyant. 
They sleep and eat, make their toilets in public with a freedom that is 
sometimes startling. Though clothed in rags they are good looking, 
and everything worn is becoming to them. 

We visited the cathedral with its chapel of St. Januarius, also the 
national museum, which was founded in 1 790, and has some of the 
most famous collections in the world. To see its sculpture alone is a 
delightful weariness. Here are Venuses almost without number, the 
Capuan, the Callipyge, and an entire hall full of Venuses besides, with 
gems by Praxiteles and Michael Angelo and the rest. Here are forms 
of surpassing loveliness from the baths of Caracalla. Here are the 
Flora and Gladiator and Bull, and others from the Farnese family, 
embracing nearly the entire collection. Everyone wanted to see the 
famous Farnese bull, the largest antique group known. It is massive and 
vigorous, but to some disappointing. The group creates surprise rather 
than admiration. Here also is the celebrated collection from Pompeii, 
which shows us how the Romans lived 2,000 years ago. There are 
bronzes and vases and utensils and frescoes and mosaics to one's satisfac- 
tion and bewilderment, and collections of the most exquisite gems, also 
a good collection of paintings. 

We visited the Aquarium, the most wonderful in the world. It is 
located in a narrow park on the shore of the bay in the midst of a 
bright and varied foliage, which is more than equaled by the display 
within. The Mediterranean is most rich in its forms of marine life. This 
is the reason for the establishment of this museum here, by a German 
scientist. It has received appropriations from the German government, 



396 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

and has a considerable revenue from admission fees. There are more 
rare and curious forms of sea life here than any of us had seen before. 
Some of them were uncanny and grotesque, but the forms are not all 
grotesque, and the arrangement is nothing short of wonderful. The 
vegetable and animal forms are grouped not only for scientific purposes, 
but also, at least apparently, for spectacular affect. It was delightful 
even to those of us who were unacquainted with sea life from a scientific 
standpoint. Especially interesting were the tanks filled with the lower 
forms of life, arranged like cabinets of jewels, and revealing in form and 
setting such color schemes as would delight an artist. From thread like 
opalescent bodies, half flower and half jewel, to gorgeous orange and 
coral colored creatures, surrounded by sea plants no less beautiful, each 
cabinet was a masterpiece. 

Through a busy crowded street a funeral procession passed. Im- 
mense wreaths covered the top of the carriages. They wore Ku-Klux 
disguises, mostly of white, but with fantastic bits of color thrown in. 
It was undeniably gruesome and frightful, but also grotesquely pic- 
turesque. 

The Villa Nazionale, a long, narrow park, close to the sea, is the 
fashionable promenade, and a beautiful drive. The observatory, former- 
ly under the charge of the celebrated Piazza, is on the north of Capodi- 
monte, which lies to the north of the city. The gallery Umberto I. is 
an immense arcade, in the form of a Latin cross, with shops of every 
kind lining its aisles. Here one may buy gloves, corals, cameos, combs, 
mosaics, statuary and almost anything else. 

From the landing place, Sunday morning, a guide conducted a party 
across the city where a service in English was held. At every few 
steps he called out in a loud voice, "Look out for your pocket book! 
Look out for your pocket book!" This he repeated so frequently that 
we began to question his own integrity, and doubted whether he was 
leading us aright. As we pass through the streets, men were sitting 
near the edge of the pavements playing cards, while others were amus- 
ing themselves with other games. It was a long walk, but we felt repaid 
as we listened to an interesting sermon by Rev. Jonston Irving, pastor of 



Bay of Naples. 



the United Free Church of Scotland, the subject of his remarks beiug 
"Joy Over the Lost," from the xv. chapter of Luke. It was a notice- 
able fact, and also to me one of pleasure, that in nearly all the mission 
fields we visited the church of Scotland was foremost in its endeavor 
to spread the gospel. 

Tuesday forenoon I visited the Aquarium a second time, and after- 
wards did some shopping, returning to the boat for lunch, after which 
we went out to Pompeii. 

Pompeii, in its best days, had a population of only 30,000, and 
attained glory, as it could hardly have done in any other way, by its 
destruction. The city was destroyed in part by an earthquake in 63 A. 
D., and after its rebuilding was completely overwhelmed by an eruption 
of Vesuvius August 24, 79 A. D. Not all the people of Pompeii 
were destroyed. A preliminary eruption gave them warning, and all 
or nearly all, left the city. But many returned for their valuables, and 
some had assumed their ordinary manner of living, when the final disaster 
came. Less than half of the town is now excavated. The government 
is still exhuming, and each year adds new relics to the past. The houses 
of Pompeii are now a single story in height ; many of them were higher 
but the exposed stories perished. The ashes which covered the place to 
a depth of twenty feet doubtless did damage to what was left standing 
above their level, but did not obliterate it. Time has done that. We 
first visited the amphitheater, at the extreme southwest corner of the 
town, quite a distance from the other ruins, and it had seats for 20,000 
spectators. We seated ourselves in this ancient relic and Mr. Vicor, 
our conductor, told us of its history, dimensions, etc. The streets of 
Pompeii were narrow, and paved with blocks of lava, worn in deep 
ruts by the chariot wheels. 

We were able to tell from the character of the ruins the original pur- 
pose of most of the buildings. At the corner is a fountain decorated 
with sculptured figures. The hollows in its brink were worn by the 
arms of persons who used to lean here to draw water to drink. Here is 
a notice painted on a building in red letters. It seems to be something 



400 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



about an approaching election, and yonder is a crude drawing on the 
stucco wall. As far as one can see are buildings. The court of justice, 
•the theater, the baths, and the market are the most interesting of the pub- 
lic buildings ; while the house Pausa and a recently excavated house, the 
finest now to be seen, are the most popular private residences. This is 

one of the busiest streets; we know it by the number of shops, which 
occupy the lower front floors of the building. The kind of business 
carried on in most of them we know, too, by the hollow receptacles in the 
marble tables or counters, the vessels of oil or wine, and sometimes by 
representations of different articles on the walls. 

Strolling along, we come to the ruins of a graceful temple and then 
to public baths. These were for both men and women. How sumptu- 
ous they must have been, is indicated by the marble swimming basins, 
the tepid and hot chambers, with heating apparatus cleverly arranged 
between the walls, the convenient dressing rooms and the spacious courts 
with arcades and columns, and rich decorations in sculpture and stucco. 

But it is the dwelling houses which interest us most of all; for all 
these seem to bring us nearest to the daily human life of that ruined city. 
They of course are unroofed, and only the frequent staircases indicate 
that they once had upper stories. To the street a Pompenan residence 
presented an absolutely plain front, but within, many of them were beau- 
tiful and luxurious. We enter first by a narrow passage into a kind of 
open court, which contains a reservoir for rain water and is surrounded 

by a covered passage upon which the bed chambers and other apartments 
open. Such tiny sleeping rooms, and they have no ventilation at all. 
The best homes have a second open court, often with a fountain and 
beautiful colonnades, and sometimes there is yet a flower garden beyond. 
Not much marble was used in the architecture of Pompeii, but walls and 
columns are covered with stucco, a kind of plaster, often painted in bright 
colors. Many of the interiors are richly ornamented with frescoes, 
usually gay scenes or figures on a red or black ground, and, like the 
mosaics in the floors and fountains, almost as fresh and brilliant as on 
the day they were placed here. 



Bay of Naples. 



401 



Although the most valuable and important of the articles which have 
been disinterred at Pompeii have been removed for safe keeping to the 
national museum at Naples, there still are many of touching interest in the 
little building at the entrance of the ruins. Here are casts or impressions 
of several bodies that perished in the ashes, men and women, children, 
horses, dogs, cats, chickens, and even a pathetic little mouse. Here are 
also charred food and clothing, utensils of all kinds, and various pieces 
of furniture, some of them of rare beauty. When one has visited the 
empty houses, the silent forum, and the desolate basilica, and returns to 
the museum to see the bodies of some of the dead, still in their last atti- 
tudes of frantic struggle for life, he feels the pathos and terror of it all. 
It is one of the saddest places that I ever visited. No wheels disturb the 
silence nor are there curious passersby or dwellers in the houses to look 
inquisitively at it. You may sit on some deserted threshold, or even on 
one of the blocks at the crossings which pedestrians use as stepping stones, 
in wet weather, and quietly dream yourself back into the olden time. 

The train from Pompeii was delayed and we did not reach our 
steamer till after 8 o'clock that evening. After dinner I made hurried 
preparations for the trip across Europe. It was our last night on the 
Grosser Kurfurst, which had been our home for so many weeks, but 
our home no longer. From the shore the next morning we looked upon 
it lying in the waters of the beautiful bay of Naples. 

During the time of our four days' stay at Naples, those of our party 
who would return with the Kurfurst were at Rome, and on Sunday had 
the privilege to attend the first Italian Sunday school congress at Rome 
The American delegates contributed a little over $500 for Sunday school 
work in Italy, and an additional $500 for the purchase and distribution 
of portions of the New Testament. These gifts were greatly appreci- 
ated and gave impetus to the Italian Sunday school cause. What a joy 
it would be to the American delegates if privileged to witness a rich 
harvest springing from the seed sown by delegates to the Jerusalem con- 
vention. 



27 



402 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



"Leaving Naples, the ship took its course toward the north, its des- 
tination being the port of Villefranche, four miles from Nice. The wind 
was still strong, and not a few of the passengers were again paying trib- 
ute to Neptune, for Villefranche was to be our last port, and we were 
especially interested, as here we were to get a glimpse of the famous 
western Riviera." — W. H. B. 

An unexpected test of the real spirit of the Kurfurst presented itself 
just before leaving Italy. By an inadvertence, a phrase from the ordi- 
nary tourist circulars containing Monte Carlo has stepped into the of- 
ficial prospectus of the cruise, and Monte Carlo itself had been included 
in the itinerary. The tiny principality is one of the garden spots of all 
the fascinating Riviera, and the drive in coaches over the upper Corniche 
road is historic in its beauty; yet in view of the fact that the very name 
of the resort is a synonym for gambling at its worst, the central committee 
recognized the undesirability of letting the fair name of the pilgrimage 
become associated in even the remotest way with a place that stood mor- 
ally as its antipode. The matter was frankly laid before the passen- 
gers, with the recommendation that a drive up the mountains and an 
evening at Nice be substituted for the original plan. It must be re- 
membered that many of the passengers were not Sunday school delegates, 
but had taken the cruise simply for its opportunities for travel. Yet the 
vote was almost unanimously in favor of the committee's recommenda- 
tion, only a score or so availing themselves of their right to carry out the 
complete itinerary. 

Monte Carlo is beautifully situated. It forms the eastern side of a 
bay, of which the western side is a lofty headland crowned by the pic- 
turesque old castle and town of Monaco. There is a funicular railroad 
or elevator which goes straight up the steep ascent like a car which 
descends the bluff at Niagara Falls. Arrived at Monte Carlo, our little 
company of twelve decided that instead of pursuing our trip at once, we 
would seek a little lunch, dismiss our coach and return to Villefranche by 
trolley. This gave us an opportunity to inspect the establishment which 
has made Monte Carlo famous, the Casino. We had been told that a 



Bay of Naples. 



403 



ticket to the Casino depended upon one's personal appearance. Nobody 
is wanted who has no money, and the test that determines the presence of 
money is supposed to be good clothes. No one of us had thought about 
this except one lady in the party, who came provided with lace collar and 
cuffs, and who calmly proceeded to array herself in the necessary finery. 
Most of the men, who had been roughing it during the long trip, had 
nothing farther from their minds than the character of their clothes. 
However, we all passed muster in the preliminary inspection, except one 
poor fellow, a clergyman from a western state, who was denied a ticket. 
He becomes indignant. "All these other men have tickets," said he. 
"Why do you not give me one?" The officers did not understand 
English, but evidently caught the drift of his remarks and pointed to his 
colored shirt, which showed conspicuously. Our guide whispered a few 
words to him, and he retired for a few minutes, returning with his coat 
well buttoned up, necktie spread out and the offending colored shirt fully 
concealed. In the crowd he was not recognized as the rejected appli- 
cant, and was promptly given his ticket. It would have been a disap- 
pointment indeed to have been ruled out, as this man was making some 
psychological studies which interest him especially in the gambling estab- 
lishment. It is said that there is an average of one suicide a day at 
Monte Carlo. Things are promptly hushed up, and if anything un- 
pleasant occurs the matter is quieted at once and the gambling goes on. 

— W. H. B. 

We were heading toward Gibraltar again, where two months before 
we had left the Ohio boy, Warren Burns, stricken down with appendi- 
citis. The letter received at Jerusalem from the secretary of the colonial 
liospital, had brought a ray of hope. At Villefranche a telegram had 
reached Dr. Clark from Mr. Nathan, the Tangier missionary friend of 
the sick boy. It read: 

"Burns relapse. Re-entered hospital five days after discharge. 
Recovering. Parents leaving New York 7th." 

Gibraltar is equipped with a Marconi station. As the Kurfurst 
rswung past the fortress Dr. Clark determined to try to get word to and 



404 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



from the patient. In the little instrument room on our after deck, crack- 
ling sparks soon told of a message speeding on its way. It was received 
at the station on the rock, a long distance from the Colonial hospital, and 
the Kurfurst was steaming westward under the swirling force of her twin 
propellers. But the Gibraltar operator sensed the situation. He tele- 
phoned to the telegraph station down in the town at the base of the rock. 
From there a messenger was evidently sent on a run to the hospital. 
What a tonic that greeting must have been to the sick boy when it reached 
him. In just forty-seven minutes after the wireless message had left the 
Kurfurst the ship's operator saw by the faint clicking of his receiver that 
an answer was coming. This is what he read : 

"He is better and is going to embark in our next boat for New 
York." 

Forty-five miles of ocean separated us from Gibraltar when that glad 
news came, and a wireless message of praise and gratitude leaped from 
anxious hearts on the Kurfurst to the heart of the loving father. 

The days on shipboard were busy ones, even on the homeward voy- 
age. A series of sharp talks were given in the forenoons, reviewing the 
experiences and striking scenes of the entire pilgrimage. An "optional 
side trip" to "Nonsense Land," conducted by dragomans in native cos- 
tume, enlivened an evening. At another meeting the worldwide sweep 
and achievements of the international Sunday school were brought promis- 
cuously before the voyagers. 

It was two days before May 1 8th, the date that stood for America. 
In each of the sixty and nine days there had been a moment when the 
great whistle of the Kurfurst shattered the still air, and watches were 
pulled from pockets and hastily the two hands were set as one. We had 
known that signal only as the announcer of high noon. Laughing con- 
gratulation or joking banter had accompanied its sounding day by day, as 
watches were found to be running closely or widely of the mark. On the 
afternoon of the sixty-ninth day a little group of us had been speaking of 
the wonderful freedom from storm or fog that had marked our entire 
course. We separated and went to our cabins to dress for dinner. Sud- 
denly the air throbbed ; the vessel was speaking. There was no time to 



Bay of Naples. 



405 



set our watches for noon. All knew what it meant. A moment and 
that tearing, throbbing roar sounded again. A silence followed, then 
again it spoke. We were in the fog. 

From that time until three days later, when our gangplank touched 
American soil, the giant voiced guardian of our path flung its grim 
challenge out into the gray world we live in. Not all the time, for 
there were hours when the sun could be seen struggling for the mastery, 
and when the curtain that blocked our way seemed finally lifted. Then 
the great signal would sound again, and our 1 3,000 tons would creep 
through the water, while an officer astern would scan the sounding lead 
that had shot out on its whirling threadlike wire into the deep, telling of 
a rocky floor beneath us, or coming up packed with sand. 

The 18th of May came, but New York was not in sight, nor 
would it be that day. 

We gathered after breakfast for the morning devotional service. 
Every sixty seconds the roar of the fog signal rose above the sound of 
prayer and hymn. "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me," was never sung with 
deeper meaning nor greater dependence than when it mingled with our 
ship's cry of warning. 

Night came, and it was time for that which would probably be our 
last service together. The forward dining saloon was filled. Dr. 
Potts led in the service of grateful testimony to the blessing of the cruise 
and convention. Voice after voice told of the new meaning that life 
had taken on; while every minute, with unfailing certainty, the words of 
prayer and testimony were drowned by the ship's cry, and the vessel 
crept slowly onward. And then there was a new sensation. All felt 
it; some knew what it meant. The man in front of me started and 
turned square around. "We've stopped," he said. 

Those who have lived for days and nights in the vibration of the 
twin screws that drive an ocean steamer on her way know what it 
means when the steel shafts stop turning and the giant blades stop churn- 
ing the water. Life is gone out of the great, breathing, throbbing 
creature that is our home. The heart, the lungs are still. It is like 
death. A steward stepped quickly down an aisle with a message for the 



406 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

leader of the meeting. Dr. Potts said quietly: "The captain, who 
has the safety and welfare of all of us at heart, has sent word to ask 
that there be no more singing, in order that those on watch may fail not 
to hear the sound of any vessels near. But we can make melody in our 
hearts," the doctor added. 

I stepped out on deck and looked into the blackness of the night. 
Far off to the starboard a ghostlike light fluttered, and went out, and 
fluttered again. Our whistle shattered the air over my head. Faintly 
there came an answer. Under the bridge an officer in low tones stopped 
all talking of the passengers who had gathered there. Not an answer- 
ing cry in the darkness must be missed by our captain overhead. Once, 
when a signal out of the night spoke near our starboard bow, a quick 
message was heard from the bridge, a rattling of wheel chains, and off 
hard aport the Kurfurst swung through the darkness. So creeping for- 
ward, a foot at a time, or resting motionless but for the tossing of the 
waves, while no moon nor sun nor stars showed our course, we sounded 
our cry and waited until the Father should point the way. I had known 
something before of the blackness at times when a child of God can 
see nothing, hear nothing, do nothing but wait and trust. Never had 
the lesson been so real to me as that night when our captain ordered the 
machinery of the Kurfurst to stop. It is life's most needed lesson, 
and life's hardest. 

Through a port in the forward saloon the next morning, while we 
sat at breakfast, some one caught sight of America. It was just a 
strip of land — Sandy Hook, that was all ; but what a land ! The girl 
opposite sprang up, threw her napkin down, and made for the deck. 
Her tears were coming fast now. There was no need of keeping up 
any longer. It was a cloudy morning, and New York loomed big and 
gray as we drew near. There on the dock were the dear familiar 
faces, some laughing, some crying and some crowding; but it was all 
different now; there was to be no more separation. Yet there was to 
be separation, after all; separation from our fellow pilgrims, and that 
thought brought sadness. No more jolly strolls about the decks, no 
more stealing snap shots of each other, no late talks over lemonade and 



Bay of Naples. 



407 



sandwiches about life and its problems, no more — but, pshaw, man, 
you're home now. It couldn't go on forever. Thank God for every 
minute of its blessed privileges ; its friendships, its lessons, its joys and 
sorrows; and take up the old new round of life, the better and stronger 
for all you've seen and felt and learned. — A. G. T. 



Rome. 409 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
Rome, the Eternal City. 

According to tradition, Rome was founded about 753 B. C. But 
by recent historical researches, the city must be more ancient. Tradi- 
tion, instead, tells us that the twins, Romulus and Remus, the sons of 
the Vestal Rhea Sylvia, loved by the god Mars, founded Rome. The 
vestal was buried alive to expiate her fault, and the children were thrown 
into the river Tiber. But the current carried them to the foot of the 
Palatine, where they were nursed by a shewolf. The Romans attached 
themselves so strongly to this tradition that the arms of the kingdom, the 
republic, the empire and then of the city — all have always borne the 
emblem of the two babes and the wolf. The two set out to build a city, 
and counted birds for the privilege of naming it. Romulus, favored by 
the gods, saw more birds than Remus, and excited the jealousy of 
Remus, his brother, so that he despised the city and leaped over the 
wall, for which insult Romulus killed him. 

The history of ancient Rome from its legendary beginning to the 
fall of the empire, centers about the capital city which constituted all 
that was significant, politically or socially, in the life and fortunes of the 
nation. Long after the greatest empire of the ancient world had 
crumbled into decay, the eternal city stood as a monument of its glory, 
and in later centuries it became the capital of Italy, which its beauty 
and importance well deserved. The streets of ancient Rome were 
crooked and narrow, the city having been built after its destruction by the 
Gauls in 390 B. C. with great haste and without regard to regularity, 
and the Tiber was spanned^ by eight or nine bridges, of which several 
still remain. The open spaces, of which there were a great many, were 
distinguished into campi, areas covered with grass; fora, which were 
paved; and areae, a term applied to open spaces generally. Of the 



410 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



campi, the most celebrated was the Campus Martius and Esquilinus on 
the east side of the city. Among the others, the Forum Romanum, 
which lay northwest and southeast between the Capitoline and Palatine 
hills, and the Forum of Trajan, between the Capitoline and Quirinal, 
are the most worthy of mention. The first was the most famous and the 
second the most splendid of them all. The great central street of the 
city was the Via Sacra (sacred way), which began in the space between 
the Esquiline and Caelian hills, proceeding thence first southwest, then 
west, then northwest, skirting the northeast slope of the Palatine and 
passing along the north side of the Forum and terminating at the base 
of the Capitoline. The two principal roads leading out of Rome were 
the Via Flamina, or great north road, and the Via Appia (Appian 
Way), or great south road. The latter was built 300 years B. C. for a 
distance of 125 miles, and later extended much farther. It was from 
thirteen to fifteen feet broad, the foundation was of concrete or cemented 
rubble work, and the surface was laid with large polygonal blocks of 
the hardest stone, usually basaltic lava, irregular in form, but fitted to- 
gether with the greatest nicety. The distances were marked by mile 
stones, and at intervals of about twenty miles were "mansions," or port 
stations, where vehicles and horses and mules were provided for the 
convenience of travelers and the transmission of government dispatches. 

Ancient Rome was adorned with a vast number of splendid build- 
ings, including temples, palaces, public halls, theaters, amphitheaters, 
baths, porticoes and monuments. The oldest and most sacred temple 
was that of Jupiter Capitolinus on the Capitoline hill. The Pantheon, a 
temple of various gods, is still in excellent preservation. Other temples 
were the temple of Apollo, Minerva, the temple of peace, the temple 
of the Sun and the magnificent temple Venus. The temple Venus by 
the Tiber is a small circular structure, twenty-six feet in diameter, and 
with nineteen columns; only one of the original twenty is lost. It must 
have been one of the first bits of architecture in Rome, and even now it 
is a beautiful ruin. 

The principal palace of ancient Rome was the Palatine, or imperial 
palace. 



The Parthenon, Athens. 



Rome. 



413 



Among the theaters, those of Pompey, Cornelius Balbus, and 
Marcellus were the most celebrated. The most magnificent of the amphi- 
theaters was that of Titus, and the principal of the Circuses was the 
Circus Maximus. 

The public baths in Rome were very numerous. The largest were 
the Thermae of Titus, the Thermal of Caracalla and the Thermas of 
Diocletian. 

Of the triumphal arches, the most celebrated are those of Titus, 
Severus, and that of Constantine, all in or near the Forum, and all are 
now well preserved structures ; but the arch of Drusus in the Appian way 
and the Arch of Galhneus were much mutilated. 

Ancient Rome had several beautiful columns. The city was also 
rich in splendid private buildings, and in the treasures of art. 

Rome, the capital of Italy, as formerly of the Roman empire, repub- 
lic and kingdom, and long the religious center of western Christendom, 
is one of the most ancient and interesting cities of the world. It stands 
on both sides of the Tiber, about fifteen miles from the sea, and its 
present population is about 500,000. From the downfall of the empire 
its history is mainly identified with that of papacy. An important event 
in its history is its capture and sack by the troops of the constable of 
Bourbon in 1 527. In 1 798 Rome was occupied by the French. Pope 
Pius VI. was taken prisoner to France, where he soon afterward died, 
and a Roman republic was set up. In 1 848 Pope Pius IX. was driven 
from Rome, and another Roman republic was formed under Mazzini 
and Garibaldi. A French army was sent to the pope's assistance, and 
after a determined resistance Rome was captured by the French in July, 
1 849, and the pope returned and resumed his power under the protec- 
tion of French bayonets. The rule of the pope continued until October, 
1870, when Rome was occupied by the Italian troops on the downfall 
of the French empire, and in June, 1871, the "eternal city" became 
the capital of united Italy. The king of Italy took up his residence in 
the Quirinal. For elementary education much has been done since the 
papal rule came to an end. 



414 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



It was not till the seventeenth century that the modern city was 
extended to its present limits on the right bank, by a wall inclosing both 
the Janiculum and the Vatican hills. The city is entered by twelve 
gates and several railway accesses. Since Rome became the capital of 
united Italy great changes have taken place in the appearance of the 
city, many miles of new streets being built, and much done in the way 
of paving, drainage and other improvements. It has thus lost much of its 
ancient picturesque appearance. There are seven bridges across the 
Tiber within the city. A vast scheme of river embankment has been 
carried out to prevent the lower lying parts of the city from being flooded 
as in former times. Its aqueducts were famous of old. Six miles along 
the Appian way the arches of the Claudian aqueduct display their 
massive ruins. This immense conduit, over 200 feet high, conveyed 
water to the city for a distance of forty-six miles. The Aqua Vergine 
is fourteen miles long, and receives its name from the incident of a virgin 
revealing the spring to Agrippa, who constructed the aqueduct. It is 
built on 700 arches, and enters the city near the Pincian hill. This is 
the chief source of supply of the fountains of Rome — among them the 
Piazza Navona, Piazza Farnese, Piazza di Spagne, and most famous of 
all the Trevi, in which it is said whoever throws money is sure to come 
to Rome again. 

The external trade is unimportant, and is carried on chiefly by rail, 
the Tiber being navigated only by small craft. There are railway lines 
connecting with the general system of Italy ; and the steamers from 
Civita Vecchia to Naples, Leghorn and Genoa. 

The principal street in Rome is the Corso. It runs in many places 
nearly north and south, and approximately parallel with the Tiber. The 
principal hotels are on or near the Tiber. 

There are many fountains. It is said that Rome uses a larger 
amount of water per capita than any city of the world, and certainly the 
lavish use of water in public squares and fountains adds wonderfully to 
the beauty and interest of the city. 

All roads lead to Rome, it is said, but in these days we are whirled 
toward the eternal city by steam, and enter it through a commonplace 



Rome. 415 

railway station. And the famous old highways across the Campagna 
from Civita Vecchia, Viterbo, Ostia, or Albano, by which all strangers 
used to approach her picturesque historical gates, are almost deserted, 
save by the contadini and a few curious travelers who come out of Rome 
to explore the ancient ways. 

The road over which we traveled led us to Rome, the city that was 
not built in a day, as we have often been informed. The railway journey 
of 1 62 miles to Rome was full of interest. We passed through a beau- 
tiful country. The scenery to us was truly attractive after visiting Egypt 
and Palestine. Each country through which we now passed was more 
attractive than the last. This fact became more noticeable as we neared 
our home land. Orchards of apricot trees, with vines hanging from and 
between them, were among the novel features of the landscape. Nearly 
every inch of soil is cultivated; not a weed was to be seen; the day 
was lovely; we were indeed in sunny Italy, the land of the vine. In 
picnic style we partook of the lunch provided for us, and were content 
and happy. It was a pleasure to be in this beautiful land of fine scenery 
and of good climate, and we would have been glad to remain longer, 
but the great number that emigrate from this land from year to year 
is astonishing. 

For several miles before we reached Rome we passed along in sight 
of the celebrated Claudian aqueduct. From the railway station in the 
east central part of the city we were conveyed by carriage to the Delia 
Minerva, a short distance from the Pantheon, a central location from 
which all interesting points were easily reached. 

1 he hotels of Rome are comfortable, especially when the weather 
is warm. Fuel seems scarce in all eastern countries visited. It was 
seldom that we received at a hotel a warm reception; but our hotel in 
Rome had an elevator or hydraulic lift. There is much in the name, 
however, and this one was little in use. The operator, when I requested 
to make use of it at the second floor, and when at one time I took the 
lift to descend, his words, though in Italian, were anything but soft and 
low, and I learned that the lift was for the accommodation on the 
ascent only of those on the upper floor. 



418 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

* 

There were many tourists from different parts of Europe at the 
Minerva. At meal times, at the long tables in the dining room, we sat 
side by side. We observed that at the table much wine was used, and 
they looked surprised at its absence from ours. But we fared sumptu- 
ously and would gladly have remained longer at the Minerva if time 
had permitted. 

There is a personage connected with the hotels of the continent and 
the east who is a real blessing. He is called the concierge. His office 
is near the door, where he sits in uniform and subsists on the fees of the 
guests, and earns them. He speaks several languages and is able to give 
valuable assistance and is in himself a bureau of information. He calls 
carriages, assists in making bargains with drivers, sends telegrams and 
translates the answers, sends out packages to the laundry and returns 
the clean linen, and does many other things. 

A trip to Rome would be incomplete without a visit to the catacombs. 
They were the burial places of the Christians for nearly 400 years, and 
consist of underground passages, one above another to the extent of four 
or five and the lowest one about fifty feet below the surface. The tombs 
were excavated on each side of the passages. It is said that, if in a 
continuous line, these passages would reach 350 miles. The one usually 
visited is Calixtus, where St. Cecilia was entombed after her martyrdom 
in A. D. 224, and where 600 years afterwards her resting place was re- 
vealed to the pope in a dream, and her body was found "fresh and 
perfect as when it was first laid in the tomb and clad in rich garments 
mixed with gold." 

One of our party engaged carriages for the catacombs, and when 
they were in readiness a guide accompanied each. To this unnecessary 
addition he objected, and after some obstinate conversation we returned 
to the hotel, determined to seek other carriages; but our friend, the 
concierge, soon compromised the difficulty between us, and guides and 
tourists set out peacefully together. 

We pass along the famous Appian way. This imperial highway 
once extended across the whole of southern Italy and ended at Brindibi. 
It was constructed 300 years before the birth of Christ, and in the first 




28 



Rome. 



419 



century bore ihe title "Queen of Roads." Between the high vineyard 
walls on either side you catch glimpses of petty suburban villas. There 
are churches, too, and little shops and crumbling tombs. Brown cherubs 
of children flock in your path and beggars innumerable dog your steps. 
Wine carts rumble over the stones, their horses fantastically decked with 
ribbons and strings of beads, and contadini from the campagna probe 
forward the meek little donkey, carrying in their produce. We pass 
the hoary arch of Drusus, erected as long ago as the year 98 B. C, and 
just beyond is the gate of St. Sebastian. There are curious sights to 
be seen about these gates of Rome. Here are funny little outdoor barber 
shops and toll offices, where a tax must be paid, according to the universal 
Italian custom, on every scrap and morsel of food brought into the city. 

The Appian way is the road out which the enthusiastic populace used 
to throng to meet their victorious heroes returning from the wars, the 
road by which the idle and luxurious went to their sumptuous baths, and 
along which the rich and noble left Rome for the last time, borne with 
solemn pomp to the magnificent tombs that line its sides. It is the road 
by which St. Paul came to Rome, and the same tradition says by 
which St. Peter was fleeing from the city when he was met by the vision 
of the lord going to be crucified afresh. To the left is the small church 
of Domine quo Vadis, which is said to mark the spot. Nearly all the 
material splendor of the queen of roads has long since vanished. The 
noble marble structures that adorn its course have fallen to ruin or been 
carried off piecemeal to be built into palaces and churches. The greater 
part of the road, indeed, is lost, buried under the dust and rubbish of 
centuries. 

It was a custom of both Greeks and Romans to bury their dead 
along their most important highways, and these burying places give a 
certain solemnity to the sunny scene. Some of these are in the form of 
columbria, so called from the niches, like pigeon holes, for the urns con- 
taining the ashes of the dead. A number are overgrown with greenery 
without, exquisitely decorated within, and full of interest. To the 
most important of these admission can always be obtained, through a 
pretty garden like enclosure, with the services of a friendly monk a~> 



420 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan 



guide, and few experiences in Rome are more memorable than a visit (o 
the catacombs. 

Provided each with a lighted taper we ascend the narrow stair into 
the dark cellar-like passages and chambers which were the chapels and 
meeting places of the early Christians as well as the sepulchers of the 
dead. Ordinary visitors are not taken very far along the murky corri- 
dors, which ramify for many miles under the plain, but you have ample 
opportunities to observe the general character of the structures, the quaint 
symbols and pious inscriptions on the walls, and the singular shelf-like 
receptacles for the dead. 

Emerging once more into the sweet upper air, one's soul expands to 
take in the glory of the sunflooded Campagna, spreading out in gentle 
undulations to unmeasured distances. Outside the gate, our thoughts 
are brought back to life by the solicitation of a poor cripple, and we 
return toward the city. 

Farther on are the partially excavated ruins of the Circus Maxen- 
tius, scenes of the ancent chariot races; and still beyond is the great 
round temple of Cecilia Metella, erected as the mausoleum of a lovely 
woman, and destined to become a fortress and castle of defense in tur- 
bulent feudal times, and now a lovely ruin. Opposite are the remains 
of a Gothic church and some other feudal stronghold. 

The first day of our stay in the city, not from the pinnacle of the 
temple, but from the heights of the Pincian hill, a guide pointed out and 
gave information in regard to the city and the seven hills on which it is 
built. From the oldest times these hills were ever a famous rendezvous 
of the Romans. Every day carriages drive here, and the rank and 
wealth of Roman society displays itself. A winding road lined with 
tropical plants and flowering shrubs leads to the upper platform, now 
laid out in public drives and gardens, but till within a few years a desert 
waste, where the ghost of Nero in the middle ages was believed to wan- 
der. Here we see the casino with an elegant cafe and a water clock, 
and here also stands an ancient obelisk which was erected in Egypt and 
brought to Rome. At the base of the hill lies a great open oval called 
the Piazza del Populo. 



ivO.Vl K 



423 



Near the center of the city is the Piazza Colonna. It is surrounded 
by palaces. In the middle of the piazza stands the column of the Em- 
peror Marcus Aurelius, ornamented with bas reliefs that record the wars 
which this glorious emperor waged against the opposing tribes. These 
bas reliefs are divided into twenty-eight pieces, including the capital and 
the basis, and run in spiral form around the column. On the top there 
is a bronze gilt statue of St. Paul, substituted for that of the emperor. 
A similar monument in appearance to Trojan's stands in the Trojan 
forum, and now a statute of St. Peter surmounts it. Trojan is buried 
below it, and his statue formerly crowned its summit. The forum was 
once a narrow ridge from the Quinnal hill to the Capitolme, rising to 
the height of the column which now adorns the open space. Trojan re- 
moved the ridge in A. D. 11 4, and here erected public buildings. 
Only a part of the forum has been excavated. When the Romans oc- 
cupied the Palatine hill and the Sabines the Capitoline, a marsh that lay 
between them was utilized in times of peace as a trading place. 7 his 
neutral swamp became the center of Rome, commercially and politically. 
About it was constructed a portico with shops below and tax collectors' 
offices above ; and when these were destroyed by fire the whole was 
rebuilt in temples, theaters and other public buildings. It was de- 
stroyed in the eleventh century and became a waste, refuse was filled 
upon it and it was built over. Its original surface was twenty-six feet 
below the present level, and has been only recently cleared by excava- 
tions. 

The Roman forum thus reveals some of the most conspicuous re- 
mains of Roman greatness. The chief objects of interest here are the 
arch of Septimus Severus, erected A. D. 203 by the senate in honor of 
his victories in the east ; the three fine columns of the temple of Vespasian ; 
the temple of Saturn (dating in its present form from about 44 B. C), 
of which eight granite columns remain. The "navel," or Golden mile- 
stone ; the senate house and tomb of Romulus ; the column of Phocis, 
erected in 608, but taken from a more ancient edifice; the temple of 
Castor and Pollux, a beautiful fragment consisting of three Corinthian 
columns with a very rich entablature; the remains of the splendid Ba- 



V 



424 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

silica of Constantine and the temple of Faustina, the columns of which 
form the portico of the church of St. Lorenzi. The arch of Titus, 
commemorating the conquest of Jerusalem, was at the summit of the Via 
Sacra, which led from the southern gate of Rome to the capitol, and was 
the route by which triumphal processions passed. 

Upon the arch of Titus there is pictured the carrying of the golden 
candlestick and other sacred vessels from the temple at Jerusalem in /0 
A. D. From this we learn the appearance of the vessels restored b}' 
Cyrus. For centuries each new pope, on his way to be installed, met 
the Jews of Rome at this arch and compelled them to swear allegianc ; to 
his government. Of late this humiliation has been wisely omitted. Be- 
tween the arch and the Colosseum the ancient pavement of the "sacred 
way," composed of huge blocks of lava, still remains. 

Close to the colosseum, is the arch of Constantine, erected A. D. 
311, the best preserved and most beautiful of the Roman arches. i he 
sculptures of the upper part were taken from an arch of Trojan and illus- 
trate the life of that emperor. 

The colosseum, founded by Vespasian on one of the artificial lakes 
existing in Nero's gardens, was completed by Titus. Vespasian set 
thousands of his captive Jews to work on this great oval building, covering 
six acres, which, when complete, was dedicated to Titus in a series of 
fights lasting 100 days. Until 405, when gladiatorial contests were 
abolished by Honorius, the arena of the colosseum ran red. After a 
time it was a fortress, and then a quarry from whose ruins hundreds of 
buildings were constructed. Then it became a woolen factory, then a 
saltpeter establishment, and in 1 750 a church, consecrated to the mar- 
tyrs who had fallen here. Though scarcely a third of the original edifice 
remains, it is by far the most imposing monument of antiquity that the im- 
perial city has to show, and is the largest structure of the kind ever built, 
being capable of seating nearly 1 00,000 spectators. Strange to relate, 
this arena, destined to bloody struggles between men and beasts, and in 
which many martyrs of the Christian faith lost their lives, was erected by 
Vespasian and completed and inaugurated by Titus, two of the most 
clement emperors of Rome. Benedict XIV. in 1 74 1 put an end to all 



Rome. 



427 



shameful acts, and dedicated the colosseum to the passion of Christ, on 
account of the great quantity of blood shed there by the Christian martyrs. 

Several times we visited the church of St. Minerva, which stands on 
the ruins of a temple of Minerva. This church is celebrated for its many 
splendid monuments. It contains a marble statue representing Christ 
bearing the cross, by Michel Angelo. This work was not completed by 
Michel Angelo, it is said, on account of his annoyance at coming upon a 
dark vein in the marble. This edifice is dark without and unimposing, 
but covers a large extent and is frequently thronged with visitors. So 
great was the throng at one time that we did not observe a marriage 
ceremony that occurred at the altar. Not until the great company was 
leaving did I catch a glimpse of the bride in long veil and snowy white 
apparel. I followed on rapidly to get a better view, but they passed out 
hastily without waiting to receive our congratulations. 

A short distance from our hotel was the Pantheon, the most perfect 
of the ancient buildings in Rome. It was built B. C. 27 by Marcus 
Agrippa. In 608 it was consecrated as a Christian church, but in 1 087 
was used as a fortress by one of the rival popes. It was restored in the 
fourteenth century and again in the seventeenth, but the gilt bronze ceiling 
of the portico was removed to make the baldacchino of St. Peter's can- 
opy for St. Angelo. It suffered further spoliation under Benedict XIV., 
who carried off much of the precious marble to adorn other buildings. 
The ancient bronze doors still remain, which statement is remarkable after 
so many Hallowe'ens have come and gone; but the truth lies in the fact 
that the doors are too heavy and complicated for the sportive Roman 
youths to remove or to even unhinge them. The 1 st of November was 
the time decided upon for the veneration of all saints. Hence the even- 
ing before is known to us all, and to the boys especially as Hallowe'en 
time. 

The interior of the Pantheon is a rotunda, lighted only by the circular 
opening in the center of the dome. The church has become "the burial 
place of painters, Raphael and Caracci being among the number. Victor 
Emmanuel II. is also buried here. In ancient times to enter the Pantheon 
six steps had to be ascended, but in the course of generations the soil sur- 



428 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



rounding this temple rose gradually, so that at present the flooring of the 
temple is lower than the pavement of the square. 

From near our hotel we take a street car to the vicinity of the Scala 
Santa. This church is in the keeping of the Passionist friars. The 
flight of steps is divided into three parts. The two side ones serve for the 
descent of those who have gone up the middle part on their knees; this 
middle part consists of twenty-eight marble steps, reputed to be from the 
palace of Pilate at Jerusalem, and down that which Jesus passed to his 
crucifixion. It is on this stair that Luther heard in his soul the message, 
"The just shall live by faith." There, in his heart, the reformation was 
begun. And near stands the noted church of St. John's, or San Gio- 
vanni, in Laterano, which takes the precedence even of St. Peter's in ec- 
clesiastical rank. It is the church of the pope as bishop of Rome, and 
here his coronation takes place. In the cloisters of the adjacent monas- 
tery are beautiful works of the twelfth century. In the piazza to the west 
of the church stands an obelisk erected at Thebes and brought to Rome 
in 1588. It is the largest in the world, being 105 feet high. 

From the gate of St. Giovanni a company of three proceeded to find 
the way to the gate of St. Paul. With guidebook in hand, one of the 
party led the way. We walked leisurely on, viewing the places of inter- 
est, and the way led up a walled lane through which we passed to a 
closed gate. We intended to return the way by which we came, but 
finally effected an exit, and passing through a rugged portion on the out- 
skirts of the city, we came to an extensive field of roses, which at this time 
were in their greatest grandeur and beauty. I afterward learned that this 
field has long been renowned for its roses, from which the essence or fra- 
grance is extracted. 

Close by are the extensive ruins of the once magnificent baths of Cara- 
calla, the largest mass of ruins in Rome, except the colosseum. They 
covered an area of 2,625,000 square yards, and could accommodate 
1 ,600 bathers at once. 

We found the road which led south from the gate of St. Paul, over 
which it is said St. Paul was led to be executed. Close to this gate is the 
massive pyramid of Cestius, the huge brick and marble tomb of a Roman 



Rome. 



429 



praetor and tribune of the people who was laid here before the beginning 
of the Christian era. Near by, and of a still more tender interest, is the 
Protestant cemetery, the beautiful sheltered ground, cypress shadowed 
and carpeted with fragrant violets, in which rest many of familiar name 
and fame. Here were placed the ashes of the poet Shelley, and the body 
of the marvelous young Keats, over whose grave you read the pathetic in- 
scription, composed by himself: "Here lies one whose name was writ in 
water." 

From the gate the street of St. Paul, with a quite modern tramroad, 
leads to the great basilica of St. Paul without the walls. This is one of 
the most splendid churches in Rome, and indeed in the world, with its 
wealth of costly marble and precious stones, malachite, lapis lazuli, verde 
antique and yellow oriental alabaster. It has, too, one of the most beau- 
tiful cloisters, with exquisite twisted columns. The interior, supported by 
eighty granite columns, is most striking and magnificent, and marks the 
spot where the apostle is believed to have been executed. All the ground 
about here teems with myth and legend. Half way between the city and 
the church you have passed the humble little chapel which marks the tra- 
ditional spot on which St. Paul and St. Peter bade one another farewell 
as they separated on their way to martyrdom. 

There are three churches, called the three fountains, within an enclos- 
ure, one of them claiming to stand over the exact spot of St. Paul's execu- 
tion and containing a marble pillar alleged to be the one to which the 
apostle was bound. The legend states that when his head was struck off 
it rebounded from the ground three times, and that where it touched the 
earth each time a fountain of clear water sprang up. The fountains are 
still there, each under an altar of the church, decorated with a bas relief 
of the head of Paul. Rome is full of these threadbare superstitions. 
Yet even here the mighty truths that underlie the foolish tales are working 
their way out again from the mists of legends. Still other places in Rome 
contain memories of Paul. 

No one who goes to Rome should miss seeing the Mammertine prison, 
although the tradition asserting that Peter and Paul were kept there be- 
fore their execution cannot be easily substantiated. It is not far from 



430 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



the forum, and comprises two dungeon rooms, one below the other, with 
a hole in the stone floor between, through which the prisoners were cast. 
A flight of steps leads to this subterranean building. According to the 
legend, Peter having converted the two custodians, Processus and Mart- 
mianus, so as to baptize them, caused water to spring up. Of course 
we were shown the spring, where water is yet flowing. 

Jurgurtha and Cataline, conspirators, and many other famous pris- 
oners, were also confined in the Mammertine. It is a cold, damp place. 
If Paul was really confined there he had need of the cloak that he, in 
the last letter that he wrote (II. Tim., iv., 13), requested Timothy to 
bring with him. There is also shown the traditional house in which 
Paul is said to have resided, and where he lived for two years, "in his 
own hired house," a spacious, vaulted building, over which has been 
erected the vestibule of the church of Santa Maria. Here may have 
been written Paul's epistles to the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colos- 
sians, and to Philemon. Luke and Timothy were much of the time 
with Paul, the former probably at that time completing the book of the 
Acts, and the latter acting as the apostle's copyist. 

The basilica of St. Peter's in Vaticano is the largest religious edifice 
ever built. It stands on the site of the circus of Nero, where many 
Christians were martyred and where St. Peter is said to have been 
buried after his crucifixion. An oratory was founded here as early as 
A. D. 90, and in A. D. 306 a basilica was begun by Constantine the 
Great, which, though only half the size of the modern cathedral, was 
the grandest church of that time. The crypt is now the only remnant 
of this early basilica, which suffered severely at the hands of the Sara- 
cens in 846, and was demolished by Julius II., who began the present 
edifice in 1 606 from designs by Bramante. The work went, with vari- 
ous changes in the plan and under several architects, until Paul III., 
"being inspired by God," as Vasari says, entrusted it to Michael Angelo, 
then nearly 72 years old. He labored upon it for seventeen years and 
began the dome on a new plan, which was modified subsequently by 
Giacomo della Porta, who unquestionably improved it by making it 
loftier and lighter. Only the facade now remained unfinished; but 



JftOME. 



433 



Carlo Moderna, the next architect, stupidly returned to the plan of a 
Latin cross, which had been several times adopted and rejected by his 
predecessors, and lengthened the nave of the dome from that side. The 
church was dedicated by Urban VIII. in 1626; the colonnades added 
by Alexander VII. in 1 667, and the sacristy by Pius VI. in 1 780. 
The expense of the work was so heavy that Julius II. and Leo X. re- 
sorted to the sale of indulgences to raise the money, and this led to the 
reformation. 

On the roof there is quite a village of small houses, occupied by 
custodians and workmen. From here a staircase between the two shells 
of the dome leads to the ball, which will hold sixteen persons at once. 

It is a familiar fact that the interior of the church does not at first 
sight seem so vast as it really is. The statues and ornaments which 
one naturally takes as standards of measurement are themselves of un- 
usual proportion — "the angels in the baptistry are enormous giants; the 
doves, colossal birds of prey" — and it is only by observing the living, 
moving figures that we begin to get an idea of the immensity of the edifice. 
Gradually it expands until it fills the full measure of our anticipations, if 
indeed it does not exceed them. It is only, however, after repeated 
visits it reveals its complete grandeur. So that, if possible, one should 
return to it again and again during his sojourn in Rome. 

The piazza in which the church of St. Peter stands is formed by a 
large oval which precedes an irregular square. The oval is surrounded 
by a grand colonnade, built by Bernini, by order of Alexander VII. 
The colonnade is composed of 284 columns and 88 pillars of Doric 
order. The balustrade is decorated with 1 62 statues of saints, after 
Bernini's designs. In the middle of the piazza rises an obelisk, 84 
feet high, brought to Rome from Egypt under Caligula (29 A. D.) 
and placed in the circus of the Vatican. On the top of the obelisk is a 
cross, which is said to contain a piece of the one on which Christ suf- 
fered martyrdom. 

I visited Saint Peter's three times, which was not too many. It is 
truly a magnificent building and has about it an air that inspires rever- 
ence. It contained many devout worshipers who were, however, greatly 

29 



« 



434 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

outnumbered at this time by the observers. The seated bronze figure of 
St. Peter is a center of interest and adoration. His right hand and index 
and middle fingers are upraised, a golden aureole is above him, his left 
hand holds the key. The famous toe of the projecting right foot is 
brightly polished by millions of kisses, the wear of which it is said has 
necessitated its replacing. I shall never again regard the story of the 
kissing of Peter's toe a myth, for each time I was there not a few ex- 
hibited in this endearing manner their loving affection and adoration. 
Two great candles on brass candle sticks seven feet high, burned before 
the saint. At the back of his marble throne is a mosaic in gold and 
wine color; a golden canopy hangs overhead. The figure itself is a 
trifle larger than life size, elevated so that the toe is about five feet 
above the ground. 

We observed the marble floors, the beautiful paintings, the high 
ceiling, the grandeur, richness and massiveness of this great structure 
and wondered at the achievement of man. Yet all other but the soul of 
man is but for time, and will perish. We ascend the winding stairs to 
the dome, from which one can view not only the city spread out at our 
feet, but the surrounding country far in the distance. 

The Vatican, adjoining St. Peter's, comprises the old and the new 
palace of the popes, the Sistine chapel, the loggia and stanza containing 
some of the most important work of Raphael, the picture gallery, the mu- 
seums and the library. It is a long rectangular edifice lying north and 
south, with an irregular cluster of buildings at either end. It now 
possesses twenty courts and 1 1 ,000 rooms. Immense treasures are 
stored away in it. Here are the celebrated collections of pictures of 
many of the great masters, and museums in which all periods of the arts 
are represented by many of their most perfect productions. Among its 
noblest art treasures are the frescoes on the ceilings of the Sistine chapel, 
painted by Michael Angelo, and the frescoes painted by Raphael on 
the ceilings and walls of certain apartments known as Raphael's stanza. 
Among them, greatest of all pictures, is that known as Raphael's "Trans- 
figuration." In the galleries of the Vatican are thousands of works of 
sculpture; among them the Apollo Belvidere, Laocoon, the persOnifica- 



Rome. 



435 



tion of the river Nile, and scores of other masterpieces. The Vatican also 
contains an extensive library. It is the residence of the pope, and here 
the cardinals meet in conclave for the election of a new pope. 

The cer»itol is best approached by the grand staircase which in its 
present form dates from 1536. At its foot are two lions of Egyptian 
porphyry; at its head are the ancient colossal statues of Castor and 
Pollux. From this piazza Brutus harangued the people after the murder 
of Caesar. In the center is the celebrated statue of Marcus Aurelius. 
On the right is the palace of the Conservatori, on the left the Capitoline 
museum. The collection of sculptures is less extensive than that of the 
Vatican, but it includes some of the most famous antiques as the Dying 
Gladiator, the Venus of the capital, the Faun of Praxiteles and many 
others. There is also the rich collection of busts and statues of Roman 
emperors and empresses, statesmen and philisophers. 

We passed over the Tiber most frequently on the bridge near the 
Castle St. Angelo. The castle was built by Hadrian, who destined it 
to be the mausoleum of himself and of his successors. But in the 
tenth century it was turned into a fortress and fell into the hands of 
the barons, who for a long time made use of it against the city itself, 
and not far from it stands the new court of justice. 

Sunday morning we attended services at St. Peter's. We stood with 
others at the back part of the chapel observing the ceremonies and 
listening to the music. We afterward attended English services in a 
Methodist church in another part of the city, and in the afternoon listened 
to Mr. Gray, pastor of a Presbyterian church. The subject was "Paul 
in Rome." Mr. Gray had given a series of sermons on the life of Paul. 
To the last of these it was our privilege to listen. We had followed in 
the footsteps of St. Paul at Malta, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus and in 
Palestine, and desired greatly to go to Rome also. The words of the 
speaker were interesting and particularly appropriate at this time. 

Through the courtesy of a friend we had access to the quirinal, the 
present residence in Rome of the king of Italy. The popes preferred 
this to all the other palaces in summer, on account of the healty air of 
the quirinal. Several conclaves were held therein, and the newly elected 



436 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



popes were proclaimed from the balcony. Pius VII. died in it in 1 823. 
In 1 870 King Victor Emmanuel took possession of it as king of United 
Italy, and died in it January 9, 1 878, leaving the country in the deepest 
mourning. It contains beautiful paintings and immense mirrors, and is 
indeed in every way grand as a king's palace. 



Across Europe. 



437 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Across Europe by way of Florence, Venice, Milan and Lucerne. 

Monday morning a company of ten or twelve met in the station at 
Rome to make the tour across Europe. One of the party, F. F. Lewis, 
had previously secured our tickets and hotel accommodations and kindly 
became our guide, or leader of the party. We were one of several such 
parties, constituting smaller units in the great company of the ship who 
were taking the trip over various routes and of different periods of time. 
During the ten days across Europe our little group experienced rapid 
transit and industrious sight seeing, and though there is much we will be 
unable to recall, there are many recollections and remembrances that will 
never be forgotten. We no longer belonged to the Frank C. Clark tour- 
ist party, under which we had traveled for so many weeks, but constituted 
merely an independent group of people who thought it more pleasant to 
travel in company. 

We first visited Florence, about six hours, or 200 miles from Rome, 
passing in view of the Tiber, then north through a beautiful landscape 
covered with orchards and vines. The trees were very closely trimmed 
and, like highland soldiers in kilts, the bareness made them conspicuous. 
In Italy a large number of white oxen were noticeable, and groups of 
women were at work in the fields. 

It is said that in Florence you feel everywhere the presence of 
Savonarola, the Florentine reformer; but before I had heard even of 
Savonarola, I had read "Onward, Right Onward," a bright covered 
book given to a brother in school as an awarded prize. A youthful 
painter, accompanied by his sister, went to Florence to perfect himself 
by the assistance and work of the masters, but who yielded to evil in- 
fluences and led a life of dissipation. The sister, who also possessed 
artistic ability, unknown to the proud brother, presented her sketches for 



438 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



sale at the studio of a noted artist. The artist discovering in her appear- 
ance and beauty a subject for his ideal, requested her to pose before his 
canvas. Her name was Euphemia, but she was called "Fairy Fezza" 
by the artist, who became her friend and in time she became his bride. 
"Onward, Right Onward" was one of the first books I ever read. The 
writer pictured the life and scenes in Florence so vividly as never to be 
forgotten — and with these early impressions I viewed the city. 

Another recollection which is of special interest to an American: 
A Florentine merchant named Amerigo Vespucci visited America as 
early as 1499, and returning, wrote an account of the country. This 
account fell into the hands of a geographer, who called the country 
Amerigo or America, after the name of the writer. A fine house now 
marks the place where Vespucci resided. The gold florin takes its name 
from this town. 

Arriving in Florence we take carriages and drive over a hilly road 
leading to the height of San Miniato, and thence by a different route 
back to the city. From the Piazzale Michelanjelo, at the highest point 
of the road, there is a most charming view of the city and the valley of the 
Arno. The Piazzale itself contained monuments of interest, and a 
church near was visited. It indeed was a fine view, and the scenery 
along the way was delightful. The private dwellings are mostly hand- 
some, and the palaces, of which there are many, are noble and impressive 
structures. 

The remainder of the day each one spent in sight seeing as he desired, 
and the following morning we set out together to view the city and catch 
glimpses of the magnificent paintings, statuary and world famed works 
of art and beauty for which the extensive galleries of Florence are noted. 
The hour was too early to be admitted to the galleries, but we gazed at 
the noted bronze doors of the Baptistry, the one nearest the church being 
the subject of Michael Angelo's well known eulogy. These doors are 
dark and weather stained. In the Corcoran art gallery at Washington, 
D. C, they are reproduced in the whitest of marble, and the artistic de- 
signs stand out more clearly. 



Across Europe. 



We visited the Duomo, or cathedral, the most remarkable building in 
Florence. The interior is grand and impressive, though the walls are 
quite bare of decoration. The stained glass is of the fifteenth century. 
There are many interesting monuments, statues and other sculpture. 
In Rome we had followed the footsteps of Paul and perhaps those of 
Peter; but in Florence no other personality is so vividly alive, so persist- 
ently present to the mind today, as that of the preacher monk, Savon- 
arola, though more than 400 years have passed since his soul "went 
out in fire" in the old Piazza della Signoria. 

In the Duomo, or church of St. Mary of the Lily, preached Savon- 
arola to long departed throngs. Close by stands Giotto's bell tower, tall, 
light and graceful as a lily stalk. Giotto in his boyhood drew pictures 
of the street beggars of Florence, with a burnt stick, using a smooth 
stone for a canvas. His materials were poor, but he made the best of 
them, and in the midst of hundreds who never had a thought above or 
beyond the squalid life they were living, Giotto rose to be the recognized 
leader of Italian painters. 

Only a few minutes walk from the Duomo is the church of S. Lo- 
rinzo, where also the fiery monk uttered his vehement thunders, and where 
he dared to denounce the sins even of the Medici, the proud and worldly 
despots of Florence, who were not patrons of this church. Over the 
altar of the chapel in the north transept is the very Jesu Bambino, the 
quaint little image of the child Jesus, which was carried at the head of 
Savonarola's army of children as they marched, white robed and singing, 
through the streets of Florence. 

The Piazza della Signoria is the historic, as it is the business, center 
of Florence. Here Savonarola was hanged and then burned, and here 
stands the Palazzo Vecchia, the old capital of the republic, and it is a 
striking example of the Florentine castles of the middle ages. In the 
same square the Loggia dei Lanzi, an open vaulted hall, beautiful in 
itself, but more noted for the masterpieces of sculpture which it enshrines ; 
and near to this is the Portico degli Uffizi, in the second story of which is 
the famous Uffizi gallery. The hall known as the Tribune is in the in- 
ner sanctuary of this temple of art, and contains the Venus de Medici, the 



440 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

Dancing Faun, the Apollino. the Wrestlers and other marvels of ancient 
sculpture, while in painting Raphael, M. Angelo Titian, Correggio and 
other great masters are represented by some of their best works. On and 
on we pass through pictured avenues of great extent. Many pictures 
were being industriously copied, and the artists would gladly have dis- 
posed of their work for small reward. There is also here a rich collec- 
tion of Etruscan and Italo-Grecian vases and cabinets of coins, gems, etc. 
In the galleries we met companies of tourists, among them some of the 
Kufurst party, from whom we became separated at Rome. 

On the opposite side of the river is the Patti palace, which is con- 
nected with the Uffzi gallery by a covered way over the Ponte Vecchio. 
There we saw some of the most frequently copied paintings in the world, 
including Raphael's Madonna of the Grand Duke, so gentle and fair; 
Murillo's Madonna, with the deep, dark eyes of mother and child; and 
most famous of all, the Madonna in the chair. In Florence the follow- 
ing story is told about this picture: 

A pious and aged heimit, having been rescued by a vinedresser's 
daughter from death in a great storm, predicted that to her would come 
signal honor. She afterward married a cooper and the two made their 
home in a secluded valley among the vineyards. Thither one day came 
Raphael with his pupils, and seeing Mary seated in a chair on the porch * 
with the vines about her, one child by her side and one younger in her 
arms, he seized upon the subject as a model. The boy by her side be- 
came the young St. John, and the babe in arms the infant Jesus. But 
Raphael had no canvas at hand, and so painted the picture on a barrel 
head. 

In this palace, besides the pictures, there are beautiful sculptures, vases 
and mosaics scattered through the rooms. 

We visited San Marco, Savonarola's own church and convent. The 
monastery and church were founded in 1 290, but were afterward trans- 
ferred to the Dominican monks. In the middle of the fifteenth century 
they were almost entirely rebuilt, and were then decorated on the interior 
by the saintly Fra Angelico. The monastery was one of those sup- 
pressed after the removal of temporal power from the church. It is now 



Across Europe. 



441 



fitted up as a kind of museum, to which anyone can obtain admission on 
payment of a franc. The fronts of these buildings occupy one whole 
side of the piazza or spuare of the same name. They are plain and out- 
wardly unattractive. Here Fra Angelico painted and Savonarola 
preached, and these associations made them among the most sacred spots 
in all Florence. 

Through a door at the right of the church you enter directly into the 
cloister, a quiet, arcaded court, among the frescoes of which are fine ex- 
quisite works by Fra Angelico, representing the origin and discipline of 
the Dominican order. From the cloisters opens the sacristy, the chapter 
house of the convent, and the large refectory, and in a small enclosure is 
seen the "Last Supper," by Ghirlandaio. We ascend to the upper floor 
and the dormitory of the convent, with its long corridors and rows of tiny 
cells. At the head of the stairs is an Annunciation, which is said to be 
not only one of the most perfect works, but also one of the loveliest paint- 
ings of the subject in existence. And painted by the same devoted hand 
on the walls of the empty passages and on many of the little plastered 
cells are a number of other softly radiant frescoes. And how beautiful 
are their colors still ! It is told by more than one of his contemporaries 
how he always began his pictures with prayer, and how, believing that in 
each he was divinely directed, he finished them with the most conscien- 
tious painstaking, but never permitted himself to alter the original design 
of one of them. He cared nothing for wealth or fame, and chose to go 
on painting in his monastery cell rather than be made archbishop of Flor- 
ence. 

At the end of a low corridor is the cell, or three cells occupied by Sa- 
vonarola when friar of San Marco, to which office he was elected in 
1 490. In the first of these is a bronze bust of the great preacher, and a 
lovely fresco of the Madonna, by Fra Bartolommeo, who had been in- 
spired to embrace the religious life of Savonarola's preaching. In these 
tiny apartments are preserved also the chair, the crucifix and rosary, and 
the hair shirt of the reformer, with a desk — not his own, but an imitation 
of it — on which lies a yellowed copy of his sermons and above which 
hangs his portrait, ascribed to Fra Bartolommeo. 



442 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Before descending the stair again we paused for a time in the monas- 
tery library. This was the first public library in Italy. In this room 
occurred the last and most dramatic scene of Savonarola's monastic life. 
San Marco was stormed by a furious mob, and in this room the friar gave 
himself to his enemies to be led forth to torture and death. In a chamber 
in the beautiful, slender tower of the Old Palace on the Piazza della Sig- 
nona, he was imprisoned, and down in the square on the 24th of May, 
1 498, with two of his friends and disciples was hanged and buried in 
sight of the excited populace. 

Several of our party had not entered the church of San Marco with 
us, but were at the Academia delle Belle Arti, close by, which contained 
the far famed "David," by Michael Angelo. On account of flaws 
contained, a block of marble lay in the cathedral yard, despised and 
rejected. One day Michael Angelo was passing, and his eye caught 
sight of the block. There arose before his vision a thing of beauty. 
He would make a statue of it. He took a long time, and allowed no 
other hand to touch it. A friend said that he was only spending days 
and weeks of his time upon trifles. "Trifles make perfection," he replied. 
Two more years passed away, and at last the statue was -finished. 
The great artists of that day assembled to see what Michael Angelo 
had made of the despised and rejected block. The marvelous work 
was revealed, the artist's judgment was unanimous. It was a master- 
piece. It represents the Shepherd-King in the strength of his ruddy 
youth. The eyes are full of sweet perceptiveness ; the right arm poised 
so as to hold the sling, the body agile and strong — a sculptured poem 
of strength. So the son of David, Jesus of Nazareth, despised and re- 
jected of men, has become the head of the corner, the cornerstone of 
Christian civilization on earth, as he is the glory of heaven. 

We waited at the door of the gallery for the return of our com- 
panions, when a waiter opened wide the door, kindly permitting us also 
to see this marvelous statue. The church of Santa Croce, in Florence, 
contains the tomb of Michael Angelo, also monuments of Dante, of 
Affiere, of Galileo and many of less fame. And in the city lies Theo- 



Across Europe. 



443 



dore Parker, the American friend of freedom for all men; and here, 
too, lies Elizabeth Browning. 

We would gladly have remained longer in Florence; the deserved 
world-famed city for art and beauty. But our time was limited, and 
early the following morning we started by rail for Venice, the distance 
being 1 82 miles. The train goes northwest to Pistoja, famous for its 
iron works; and from its being invented here, the pistol was named. 
Turning abruptly, we ascend the Apennines and continue the way 
toward Venice. 

On the way to Venice we passed through forty-five tunnels, two of 
which are more than a mile long, with bridges and viaducts innumer- 
able. The wild scenery of the Apennines is beautiful, and farther on 
lies the fertile plains of Tuscany, called the garden of Italy. Late in 
the afternoon, crossing the large bridge near the city, we reached Ven- 
ice. Modern engineering has erected a viaduct from the islands to the 
mainland. Why there are no streets in Venice, and why horses and 
carriages are unknown, one has to remember that the city is built upon 
no less than eighty small islands situated in the shallow waters of the 
bay of Venice, and shut out from the deeper waters of the Adriatic 
sea by a long belt of sand and earth, called the Littorale. In early 
times people went about on horses and mules in Venice, and a vast num- 
ber of the small canals were narrow and muddy streets; but as the supe- 
rior facilities of water over mud as a means of transportation became 
evident, the lanes were dug out and the islands were cut up into an im- 
mense number of islets until the footways became so circuitous that the 
horse disappeared altogether. Now there are no less than 450 bridges 
which span the canals of Venice, connecting the islands with each other. 
The Grand canal, dividing the city, is spanned by the Rialto, the most 
magnificent bridge in Venice. It consists of a single arch 90 feet in 
span and 24 feet high, built entirely of marble, and dates back to 
1500. 

For many centuries Venice was the capital of the first maritime and 
commercial state in the world. Consequently there are a great number 
of magnificent public buildings and palatial residences. Many price- 



444 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

less works of art, masterpieces of Titian, Tintoretto and other great 
artists, are to be found in the churches. Many of the palaces of the 
old time rulers of the city, called doges, or dukes, are still standing. 

In Venice you may live in a hotel that was once a palace, and 
which is far more luxurious and comfortable now than it was then. Or 
you may find inexpensive '"lodgings" in some formerly aristocratic 
abode, hiring for a few dollars a week a whole suite of large, lofty, 
dingy rooms with rich frescoes and tarnished gilding, with massive an- 
tique furniture, funny little stoves that look like dressing tables, and 
windows that open above dim damp gardens. 

But the gondola is a symbol of all the mystery and charm of Ven- 
ice; and our first ride was, of course, from the station, along the stately 
curves of the Grand canal. For two miles this liquid thoroughfare, the 
largest in Venice, winds like a huge letter S through the city. Several 
of our party entered the first boat, and we passed up this strange water 
street to our hotel near the Piazza of St. Mark's, expecting our com- 
panions soon to follow. As they did not, we concluded that the 
charms of the gondola had taken them on, and as our time in Venice 
was most limited, we improved the shining hours without waiting longer, 
by visiting the piazza and church of San Marco, which was close by. 
This vast, treeless, stone paved square is the real center of Venetian 
life. Here are the most enticing shops. Here are all the Venetian 
types — ladies in Paris gowns, children with nursemaids in gay provin- 
cial costumes, beggars in rags, and bareheaded girls with somber eyes 
and laughing lips. Nowhere else in Europe is there a public square 
like the piazza. On three sides are palaces, arcades and glittering 
shops. On one side the glorious church of St. Mark's with its shining 
domes, faces you, its front encrusted with many colored marbles and its 
wealth of old mosaics. It was contructed from the spoils of many 
other buildings, and nearly every century from the fourth down to the 
latest is represented in its statuary and carvings. We were told of her 
Winged Lion and shown an alabaster pillar said to be the only remain- 
ing column of the temple in Jerusalem and St. Mark's tomb. The 
story of the Winged Lion involves a curious bit of history. The lion 



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445 



belongs to St. Mark, and has been taken as his symbol ever since the 
time of the apostles. The idea is derived from the book of Ezekiel, 
where the prophet, in his description of the cherubim, speaks of them as 
having four distinct forms and faces — those of a man, a lion, an ox, and 
an eagle. These were supposed by the early church to represent the 
four evangelsists — the man representing St. Matthew; the lion, St. Mark; 
the ox, St. Luke, and the eagle, St. John. 

Ezekiel, in his vision, says nothing about the lion having wings; 
these were derived from the vision of the prophet Daniel. He also saw 
four living things in his vision — the same as Ezekiel — a man, a lion 
with eagle's wings, an ox, and an eagle. These also were taken to 
represent the evangelists; and so the lion of St. Mark gained a pair of 
wings, which wings you may see on that statue today. 

In a church in Alexandria the body of St. Mark first lay; the Mo- 
hammedans conquered Egypt, the place still continued to be revered by 
true believers, and it was zealously guarded by worshipers. At last 
one of the caliphs, wishing to build a new palace, determined to destroy 
the church and use the marble for his own purposes. 

The Christians were much disturbed at this, for they feared the 
bones of the disciple would be desecrated by the infidel, and it was re- 
solved to remove the remains to a new place. There happened to be 
some Venetian ships in the harbor of Alexandria at this time, and the 
captain hearing of the contemplated removal, made up his mind to se- 
cure if possible the sacred relics for his own city. 

He accordingly had an interview with the priests who had charge 
of the tomb. At first he could do nothing, but when the Venetian 
showed them how desirable a place Venice was, and when he added a 
large bribe to his arguments, the priests gave their reluctant consent to 
the saint's removal to the growing city in the west. 

It was no easy task, however, to take away the disciple's body. 
Alexandria was full of devout Christians who would not have parted with 
the relic for any money. A clever scheme was at last devised by which 
the Venentians successfully executed their plan. Now the saint's body 
was wrapped in a robe of cilk sealed with many seals from the head to 
the feet. 



446 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The Venetians then secured another body, that of an inferior saint, 
and, cutting away the rcbe of St. Mark at the back, they took away his 
body and placed the other body within the robe without disturbing the 
seals. So they succeeded in removing the body from the tomb without 
anybody having any suspicion of it. 

In order to carry the body to the ship the Venetians covered it with 
herbs and swine's flesh for the passers-by to see, and as they went along 
the streets, they cried, ''Khanzir ! Khanzir!" — pork, pork — which as it 
was an abomination to the Saracens, made those whom they encountered 
more eager to get out of the way than to examine the precious bundle. 

It was a great day in Venice when the ships arrived with the precious 
cargo on board. The whole city turned out to receive the saint. The 
doge and all the chief nobles in their state attire, the clergy and the com- 
mon people turned out as if to welcome a conqueror. Solemn services 
were held in the grand cathedral, which were accompanied with the pomp 
of magnificent ceremonies and splendid processions and feasting and music 
and universal joy throughout the city. > 

So St. Mark was taken as the patron saint of the powerful republic. 
His lion with eagle's wings became her symbol, and the battle cry of her 
warriors was the name of the saint. All through the flourishing days of 
Venice they had a peculiar custom of placing an open book between the 
paws in time of peace, but when there was war, then forthwith the book 
was withdrawn, and a naked sword placed there instead. 

A would-be guide dogged our steps at every turn. But at the door 
of St. Mark's as we passed out, an efficient guide offered his services and 
did well in showing us many special objects of interest in the short time al- 
lotted us. Hundreds of pigeons, with a- swift whir of wings and many 
soft twitterings, descend in a cloud about you, sitting on your shoulders, 
your hands and your head, eager to be fed. And never did you spend a 
copper with more satisfaction than you feel in purchasing a paper bag of 
wheat to be scattered to the pretty gentle creatures. 

We were shown where stood the Campanile, which fell July 1 4, 
1902, and it is now feared that the causes which led to the destruction of 
the famous bell tower are affecting the foundations of the church of St. 



Across Europe. 447 

Mark. The pesent peril is believed to be due to a shifting of the strata 
of clay and sand on which Venice is built. This has left the founda- 
tions exposed and the bricks have decayed. 

The ducal palace, the great work of Venice, stands near. We 
passed up the Giant's staircase by which the palace is entered from the 
courtyard. The interior is a rich gallery of Venetian art, and in which 
is also an echo chamber. Through his fingers several times our guide 
whistled; the sound returns again and again, and hurriedly passes on, and 
we call aloud to hear the sound of our voices re-echoed. The ducal 
palace is connected on the east side by the Bridge of Sighs with the 
prison, "Le Prigione." Continuing our way, we stand on the noted 
Rialto, which spans the Grand canal. A little beyond it is the oldest 
church in Venice, and the little square in front of the church is Shakes- 
peare's Rialto, or the Merchants' exchange of that day, made memorable 
in his "Merchant of Venice," so frequently represented. 

On one side of the square, now a vegetable market, is a short column 
of Egyptian granite to which steps ascend. Fom this column the laws 
of the republic were promulgated, and here was printed in the sixteenth 
century the ''Nizie Coritte," one of the first, if not the first, of modern 
newspapers. Our guide wished much to take us to the glass factory, and 
we were glad to go with him. Here we were not hurried, and we made 
some purchases — how could we help it? For here were elegant mirrors, 
vases and delicately tinted articles in glass, most beautiful to behold. In 
another department articles were being manufactured. Young women 
were making glass picture frames and other articles to be exhibited at the 
St. Louis exposition. 

We walked through the Merceria, the line of narrow streets in which 
the chief shops are situated. In the windows of the shops were exhibited 
many beautiful articles in lace, for the manufacture of which Venice is 
widely noted. 

The clock tower rises above the gateway leading into the Merceria. 
The hours are struck on a bell by two bronze figures. We passed down 
stone steps into a gondola and ride on the smooth waters of the Grand 
canal, from which the city is best seen. As we glide along, the guide 



448 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

gives information in regard to a noted church or upper residence, where 
lived Byron, of the Brownings, or some magnificent palace or other place 
of note or distinction. But enchanting as Venice is by day, it is said it is 
at night that her witchery is greatest. It is not without just cause that 
poets have sung and travelers have raved for ages over the beauties of 
this queen of cities. 

"Beautiful Venice! city of song, 

What mem'ries of old to thy regions belong! 

What sweet recollections cling to my heart, 

As thy fast fading shores from my vision depart. 

O'Poesy's home is thy light colonnades, 

Where the winds gently sigh as the sweet twilight fades; 
I've known many homes, but the dewlling for me, 
Is beautiful Venice, the bride of the sea." 

— Byron. 

Milan, the capital of Lombardy, is one of the largest and wealthiest 
cities of Italy. It was an important town under the Romans. It has 
many modern improvements, and is a great manufacturing place, with 
more than 500,000 inhabitants. The railway journey from Venice af- 
forded varied and delightful scenery. To the right, the chain of the 
Alps was visible nearly all the way. We arrive at the station in Milan 
at about 3 p. m. and take carriages for the central part of the city. The 
shops are closed, and there is no opportunity for shopping in Milan, for it 
is "Ascension day." Service is being held by the ecclesiastical body of 
of the Church of Italy in the great cathedral. 

We seek out the old church and convent, now suppressed, of S. 
Maria delle Grazie, in whose refectory is the celebrated "Last Supper" 
of Da Vinci. Many artists have tried to picture this scene, but Leonardo 
da Vinci has excelled them all. Its great merit has caused it to become 
the most familiar of all the pictures of the Last Supper. When we reach 
the church it is near the hour for closing the doors. We pay a small fee 
and are admitted. The celebrated fresco covers one end of the room, 
and is interesting in spite of its ruined condition. Representations of the 
same scene by other artists cover opposite sides of the refectory. 

The Last Supper was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of the 
fifteenth century, when 45 years of age, and was his masterpiece. In the 




» 

30 



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451 



grouping he has followed to some extent the ancient tradition. They 
are all seated at the farther side of the table, the oiher side being unoccu- 
pied. The apostles are divided into four groups of threes, into which 
they have been broken up by electric shock of the words, "Verily I say 
unto you, that one of you shall betray me." Study the expressions on 
the faces of the apostles as Jesus makes this announcement. One may 
see surprise depicted in all its shades. But look at the hands. What a 
study in gesture — speech! The right hand of Christ seems almost in- 
voluntarily to point to Judas, who clutches the bag all the more tightly, 
thus revealing his guilt ; if they could but see it so. John, sitting next to 
Jesus on the right, clasps his hands in agony at the thought. Peter, with 
one hand, grasps a knife, with nerves strained for action, while, with his 
other hand, he presses against the shoulder of John and points to Jesus, 
telling him to ask Jesus whom he means. Andrew raises his two hands, 
palms uppermost, in utter abhorrence at the thought of a traitor in their 
midst. James the less, also anxious, reaches his left hand behind Andrew 
and touches Peter, as if urging him to find out all he can through John. 
The hands of Bartholomew rest upon the table in perfect abandon at the 
thought of such a crime. On the left of Jesus, and next to him, sits 
James, the brother of John. His outspread hands seem to say, "Search 
me, and try me, and see if there be any such wicked thing in me." Peer- 
ing over the shoulder of James is Thomas, with his forefinger doubtfully 
raised, as if to say, "One of us?" On the left of James is Philip, his 
hands clasped, expressing devotion, even worship, of Jesus. 

The three apostles at the extreme left of the table, are, first, Matthew, 
then Thaddeus, and last of all, Simon. These three are evidently dis- 
cussing what Jesus has said ; Matthew points to Jesus with his right hand, 
and with the left seems to be saying, "It must be so, since he said it." 
Thaddeus, who is between Matthew and Simon, is about to bring his 
hands together as if to say, "I told you so," with Jesus in his thought. 
Simon extends his hands in a judicial sort of way as if to say, "We have 
misunderstood the Master — this thing cannot be." 

Of the many churches, the cathedral at Milan is the most famous, be- 
ing the largest in Europe, except St. Peter's at Rome, and the cathedral 



452 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



at Seville, in Spain. It is nearly 500 feet long and 288 wide through 
the transept, and the height of the nave is 1 55 feet. The central pyramid 
or spire is 360 feet high. 

Ascension day was a favorable time to visit the great cathedral. 
Cardinals, bishops and archbishops officiated, and there were many de- 
vout worshipers. The service at the altar was impressive, and the music, 
both vocal and instrumental, was almost heavenly — the richest to which 
I have ever listened. Within we ascend to the roof by a winding flight 
of stone steps. The many pinnacles and the throngs of statues, some 
2,000 in number, are marked features of the exterior. It is in reality 
an extensive, elevated art gallery of statuary, with the heavens for a can- 
opy. There was statuary of Adam and Abel, Eve and Cain and many 
others, and scores of marble water conductors, each terminating with a 
carved head of some different animal or bird. 

We went upstairs and downstairs to different parts of this great edi- 
fice, and unexpectedly came on one of the Kurfurst party, who had come 
to Milan by a different route. So unexpected and unique was the place 
of meeting that this party grouped us together for a picture. In little 
niches were comfortable seats, and in one we rested. But for an extra 
franc a guide led our conductor up on the highest pinnacle of the temple, 
and from this great height showed to him the extent of the city, with its 
special structures and places of interest, with the surrounding country visi- 
ble far in the distance. So fascinated was he with the magnificent 
view, or perchance his exalted position, that he tarried long, forgetful of 
the passing of time, and of his more humble companions below. 

We return to the interior of the cathedral. Service is yet in progress, 
but of a different character. Ascension day is a festival of some Chris- 
tian churches, held ten days, or on the Thursday but one before Whit- 
suntide, in commemoration of our Savior's ascension into heaven, after his 
resurrection. From the altar of the great edifice, nearly 500 feet long, 
passes a great procession, consisting of different divisions of the ecclesiastic 
body in the various dress of its order, and carrying banners and golden 
emblems. A chief official, bearing a magnificent open bible leads the 
procession, and words in Latin are repeated ; then follows a service at the 



Across Europe. 



453 



altar, when the great procession repeats the former service and returns to 
the altar. It was a scene ever to be rememberd. 

We remain over night at Milan, and in the morning a street car con- 
veys us to the station. We are on the way to Lucerne, over the St. 
Gothard route. The pass of St. Gothard is one of the oldest and most 
popular routes acoss the Alps. Armies have marched across it, and 
from the earliest times travelers have traversed it on foot or by carriage. 
But a little more than twenty years ago the wonderful St. Gothard rail- 
way was completed, and since that time the traffic over the pass has been 
many times multiplied. The St. Gothard tunnel is nine miles in length, 
and is the longest in the world. One of our party observed by his watch 
that we passed through it in eighteen minutes. 

As we continued our journey, by the way we observed luxurious veg- 
etation, stretches of vineyards and groves of fig and olives, interspersed 
with cliffs and cascades. At intervals loom up hoary castles or fortresses 
among the blue lakes ; these were spois made famous by battles and legen- 
dary exploits. We stop at the Swiss frontier. There is the usual 
scramble off and on the train with our baggage for the customs exami- 
nation. Then on we are whirled; up we climb, over bridges that span 
giddy chasms, along stone galleries, on the sides of shuddering precipices 
and through tunnels that turn and loop in the darkness. There are no 
less than fifty-six tunnels scattered along the way. 

The rays of light were fading fast. 
Through scores of tunnels we quickly passed. 
The train it bore, 'mid snow and ice, 
Brave tourists, with the strange device, 
Excelsior! 

Beware the river's surging branch! 
Beware the awful avalanche! 
Yet on we crashed, with main and might, 
To scale the Alps, far up the height, 
Excelsior! 

Yet higher on every hand, from the influence of the sun's rays, 
loomed the snowcapped mountain peaks with their sides still covered with 



454 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



a white mantle. And silvery sprays and gushing streams fall gently over 
high precipices, or rush in rapid motion down the steep mountain valleys 
to join the surging currents below. 

Gradually descending a valley, we come to Fluelen, at the end of 
Lake Lucerne, having passed to our left Mount Pilatus, nearly 7,000 
feet high. Many legends are associated with Pilatus, according to one 
of which Pontius Pilate drowned himself in a little lake a few hundred 
feet below the summit. And to our right loomed the Rigi, which is 
nearly 6,000 feet high. Though comparatively insignificant in height, 
its admirable position makes it the most popular mountain in Switzerland. 
Hundreds spend the nights at the hotels on the summit for the sake of 
seeing the sun rise. The mountain top is often enveloped in a cloud of 
mist. Two of our small party ascended its height and obtained a view 
from the summit, and at Lucerne leaving us hurriedly to take a snapshot 
view of London and vicinity before crossing the Atlantic. 

Two miles from Fluelen is Altorf, where Tell is said to have shot the 
apple off his son's head. A fountain marks the spot where the boy was 
bound to the tree, and a statue of Tell at the point where he aimed an 
unerring shaft. The lake is nearly cruciform, the bays of Lucerne, Kuss- 
nacht and Alpnach forming the head and arms, while the foot is formed 
by the bay of Buochr and lake of Uri. The distance from Fluelen to 
the town of Lucerne is twenty-seven miles. 

In a handsomely fitted boat we glide, surrounded by the most beau- 
tiful, sublime and romantic scenery it has been my privilege to see. Be- 
fore, when companions asked, when some fine landscape, silvery lake or 
wild mountain scene presented itself, if I had seen its equal, I replied I 
had visited "Bonnie Scotland," and nothing could compare with the 
Scottish highlands in beauty; and at another time I declared that the 
scenery in Scotland, the land of my ancestors, was the most beautiful on 
earth. But the scenes in Switzerland are sublime and majestic, and 
productive of the spirit of adoration, awe and quietness. One has no 
desire to compare them. 

At the south arm of the lake the mountains rise abruptly from the 
water's edge, and at intervals wild gorges open, disclosing lofty peaks 



Across Europe. 



455 



lad in eternal snows. This is the theater of exploits of the legendary na- 
tional hero, William Tell. We pass the romantic chapel on its lake 
washed ledge of rock, where Tell sprang out of Gessler's boat and es- 
caped the tyrant's vengeance. It is all wondrously wild and beautiful, 
with the enclosing hills and cliffs, and the overhanging trees by the little 
chapel reflecting in the silvery lake. On the left we pass the Rutli, with 
its trickling springs, where on the night of the 7th of November, 1 307, 
the Swiss confederates swore their solemn oath to drive out their Austrian 
oppressors. 

Cool, sheltered bays, gray castle ruins, good roads and nestling vil- 
lages are features of each shore. The residences of the villages are built 
close to the water's edge and on the mountain sides, and are commodious 
structures, many of which are several stories high, and, with their steep 
projecting rook and other Swiss characteristics of architecture, are hand- 
some and picturesque. A.t the right shore of the lake our boat stops only 
at the larger villages. The plank is lowered and passengers come and 
go. Stopping at a village, we were surprised and much pleased when 
several of the Kurfurst party came aboard. They had accompanied our 
boat to Villefranche, m the south of France, and were making the tour of 
Europe eastward. And so we met little groups here and there of the 
great party, each one relating his experiences, and certain that the route 
taken by him afforded the greater interest. 

About the middle of the afternoon we arrived at Lucerne. The city 
is delightful for its situation, and at this season is thronged with tourists. 
We followed our luggage to the hotel. The way led up over a steep 
winding road; we stopped and rested and gasped for breath, and re- 
newed the effort, and stopped and rested. "Excelsior" is an inspiring 
motto among the Alpines, however, and we continued the way onward 
and upward to loftier heights. When at last we had reached the Pisgah 
of our goal we were amply rewarded. In beautiful grounds, amid 
flower gardens and tall trees, stood a quaint high "pension," with broad 
verandas and easy chairs in which we rested and feasted our eyes on the 
beauties of the surroundings — snowcapped mountains, seemingly not far 
distant, and others covered with verdant green were lower and closer. 



456 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Later in I he evening flaming streaks of fire moving down the mountain 
side was a peculiar phenomenon. Quantities of tar running down the 
side of the mountain had been set on fire, the light revealing the snow in 
the darkness. We watched this strange exhibition till the cool evening 
air caused us to seek shelter within. And in the morning members of 
our company reported to have seen the sun rise, amid the beauties of the 
Swiss Alpine scenery. But I am sorry to say I was not of the number. 

We left this beautiful, romantic and enchanting place with a wish 
to visit it soon again, and to remain for a longer time. We saw and 
admired the "Lion of Lucerne," a monument in honor of the Swiss 
guards who fell in defending others — the lion hewn out of natural rock, 
after Thorwaldsen's design. A great old lion is lying upon his side, 
wounded and dying. His mouth is open, and his strong face is drawn 
with his terrible suffering. He does not seem to be thinking of himself. 
His chin and one of his forepaws are resting upon a shield. He is pro- 
tecting that, in spite of all his pain. He is dying, yet he thinks only of 
saving the shield of France from her enemies. 

The Gletschergarten, close by, is a very interesting relic of the ice 
period. A wild stream of water, rushing down into the rock bound en- 
closure, causes a large stone to revolve in rapid motion. Also a deep 
well in the solid rock is a noticeable feature. Members of our party 
ascended the old water tower, which was formerly used as a light- 
house. Ancient Swiss articles in wood are here exhibited. And near we 
enter the Rathhaus, a historical and industrial museum with a picture gal- 
lery, and near are shops with souvenir articles for sale; and nowhere, 
except perhaps at Venice, did I desire to make greater purchases. We 
make a few hurriedly, for our time is very limited; and as we pass, 
young women sit outside the doors in the evening twilight industriously 
engaged in embroidery. Some times we stop to examine the work so 
patiently and deftly accomplished. 

We saw the Muhlenbrueke, a bridge with gay, quaint pictures, and 
take a long walk through the principal part of the city. 

The residences were large and picturesque, shops neat and attrac- 
tive and streets wide and clean. In one square was an open bazaar, in 



Across Europe. 



457 



which almost everything conceivable was displayed for sale. In the 
morning we leave Lucerne by rail, passing through a long tunnel and 
most picturesque scenery, arriving at Bale, fifty-nine miles distant. 
Here we were pleased again to meet several of the Kurfurst party, if but 
for a short time. And the happy salutations were as follows: 

"We again meet in a foreign land." "I think that we have met be- 
fore in Palestine or perhaps in Rome," and our friends pass on their way. 
We walk hastily down the street for some little distance and come to the 
river Rhine, one of the most important rivers of Europe, also dis- 
tinguished for the beauty of its scenery. One of our earliest remem- 
brances is of the poem of "Bingen on the Rhine." 

Crossing the bridge that spanned the river we passed on a short dis- 
tance. When we return to our homes we can say that when abroad we 
also traveled in Germany. We returned to the station and were soon on 
our way to Paris. 



Homeward Bound. 



459 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Paris and Homeward Bound by Way of England and Scotland. 

From Bale the way led through a more level country. From each 
side, as far as the eye could see, stretched fertile plains, interspersed with 
forests and cultivated fields. After the long ride from Lucerne we 
arrived in Paris late Saturday evening, and too fatigued for much sight- 
seeing. 

Paris lies in the Seine valley, surrounded by heights. The river 
runs from east to west, enclosing two islands, upon which a part of the 
city is built. The Seine is navigable for small steamers. The quays or 
embankments, which extend along the river on both sides, being built of 
solid masonry, protect the city from inundations, and form excellent 
promenades. The river is crossed by numerous bridges. The houses 
of Paris were almost all built of white calcareous stone, and their gen- 
eral height is from five to six stones. In the older parts of the city the 
streets are narrow and irregular, but in the newer districts the avenues 
are straight, wide and well paved. 

That which is specifically called the Boulevard extends in an irregu- 
lar arc on the north side of the Seine, from the Place de la Bastile in the 
east to the Place de la Madeleine in the west. Here are the noted and 
magnificent triumphal arches of Porte St. Denis and Porte St. Martin. 
There are six passenger stations for the railways to the various parts of 
the country, and a belt line railway around the city. There are also 
tramway lines. The automobile is very frequently seen, and is said to 
be more commonly used in Paris than in any other city. But the Seine, 
with fine scenery and structures along its quays, affords the most delight- 
ful means of transportation. Without the river Seine Paris would lose 
much of its attractiveness. 



460 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



The first appearance of Paris in history is on the occasion of 
Caesar's conquest of Gaul, when the small tribe of the Parisii were 
found inhabiting the banks of the Seine, and occupying the island now 
called He de la Cite. / 

In the beginning of the fifth century it suffered much from the north- 
ern hordes, and ultimately fell into the hands of the Franks, and became 
the capital, and, from the reign of Hugo Capet, Paris continued to be 
the residence of the kings of France. 

In 1 437 and 1 438 Paris was ravaged by pestilence and famine, and 
such was the desolation that wolves appeared in packs and prowled 
about the streets. Under Louis XI. a course of prosperity again com- 
menced. In the reign of Louis XIV. the Paris walls were leveled to 
the ground after having stood for about 300 years, and what are now the 
principal boulevards were formed on these sites. Many of the finest 
edifices of Paris were destroyed during the revolution, but the work of 
embellishment was resumed by the directory, and continued by all subse- 
quent governments. 

The most recent events in the history of Paris are the siege of the 
city by the Germans in the war of 1870-71, and the subsequent siege 
caried on by the French national government in order to wrest the city 
from the hands of the commune. 

Paris has been the scene of international exhibitions in 1855, 1867 
and 1878, but the most important exposition was that of 1889 in com- 
memoration of the centenary of the French revolution. In all respects 
it proved a complete success, the number of visitors being over 25,- 
000,000. 

Sunday morning we crossed the Seine on our way to the Made- 
leine. While in Paris we enjoyed several sails on the river. On the 
other side we passed through the Place de la Concorde, the central point 
of all that is grandest and most beautiful in the city. It contains the 
monolithic obelisk of Luxor, with an elegant fountain on either side, and 
the eight colossal statues representing French cities grouped around. Flit- 
ting about were multitudes of pigeons so tame that they would light on 
the shoulder and feed from one's hand. 



Homeward Bound. 



461 



In the French revolution the guillotine stood in the Place de la Con- 
corde, where in less than three years Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, 
Charlotte Corday, and nearly 3,000 others were executed. 

Farther up the street we come to the Madeleine, a modern structure, 
which stands on an elevated basement fronting the north end of the Rue 
Royale. The exterior, with its Corinthian portico and the sculptured 
pediment above, and the interior sumptuously decorated with colored 
marbles, gilding, statuary and painting, are said to be magnificent. When 
we were there, however, the church was undergoing repairs. The portico 
was enclosed with scaffolding and the interior was hung and covered 
with black drapery, and, from the somber emblems and the mien of the 
people, we conceived that a funeral service was in progress. Wilh 
others we passed before a long, dark, covered receptacle not unlike a 
casket. But the people were depositing money, probably for the repair 
of their church, and as soon as politeness offered we found seats near 
the rear of the church. Here we were courteously waited on, however, 
and though we remained some little time, the taking up of the collection 
was the principal feature of the service, and the only one in which we 
were requested to share. Passing out we observed on the large bronze 
doors illustrations in bas relief of the ten commandments. 

The Champs Elysees, a broad central avenue, affords one of the 
finest views in Paris, and is a favorite promenade. At the farther end is 
the grand Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, said to be the most magnificent 
triumphal arch in the world. It was begun by Napoleon I. in 1806, 
and finished under Louis Philippe, and cost more than $2,000,000. 
South of the Arc we found on the way an American church, so called 
because the service was conducted in the English language. We joined 
in the service and seemed at home, though in Paris. The choir sang a 
fine selection admirably. The subject of the minister's remarks was the 
gentle admonition, "Cast Thy Bread Upon the Waters." He was not 
a witness, however, to the service in the Madeleine in which we lately 
had participated. When the service was ended he welcomed the strang- 
ers within the gates, as did several of his people. 



462 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



Monday morning we sailed up the Seine to the Place du Carrousel, 
which contains the Arc de Triomphe, which is modeled after the Arc of 
Severus at Rome, and adorned with statues of the soldiers of the first 
empire. On the top is Bosio's bronze group of a chariot with four 
horses driven by a female figure personifying the Restoration, and near 
stands the Palais Royal. The galleries around the great courtyard are 
gay with shops, cafes and restaurants. It is a favorite resort of the 
Parisians and a much thronged part of the city. 

The extensive garden of the Tuileries, near the central part of the 
city, is handsomely laid out and adorned with fountains and statuary, 
from near which we ride in a double decked omnibus along a principal 
boulevard. On the right stands the St. Roch, on the steps in front 
Bonaparte stationed the cannon with which he dispersed the royalist mob. 
As we proceed, a short distince to the right, in the Place Vendome, 
stands the famous column, 1 40 feet high, erected by Napoleon I. to com- 
memorate his Russian and Austrian victories, and farther we pass the 
Palais de Elysee, a favorite residence of the first Napoleon and the 
place where he signed his final abdication. In a square to the left is a 
fine monument erected in memory of Victor Hugo. 

On the west side of the city we enter the extensive park Bois de 
Boulogne, which covers an area of 2,150 acres. It comprises the race 
courses of Longchamps and Auteuil, and the aquarium, conservatory, 
etc., and in it are situated many small lakes, seventy acres being artificial 
water. Here we walked for a short distance, then took carriages which 
conveyed us through the extensive and beautiful grounds covered with 
flowers and shrubbery. Could the garden of Eden be more beautiful or 
luxuriant? 

Near the Trocadero palace, built for the exhibition of 1 878, we 
crossed the Seine to the Champ de Mars, the site of the great exhibition. 
Here too stands the notable Eiffel tower. It is a lofty structure of iron 
lattice work, having three stages or platforms. It is the highest building 
in the world, being nearly 1 ,000 feet. The summit is reached' by means 
of an elevator or small car, which ascends every twenty minutes. While 
our companions made the ascent a friend and I rested on sorry looking, 



Homeward Bound. 



463 



weather beaten chairs, not far from the office. A woman soon advanced 
requesting pay for the use of the chairs, but we did not respond readily, 
pretending not to understand her language. Becoming very urgent in 
her endeavor she presented pieces of money, but our faces revealed no 
indication of intelligence. Our companions returning looked pleased, 
however, when for the seats vacated we paid her a few coins. 

The Hotel des Invalides is now used as a retreat for disabled sol- 
diers. It contains the burial place of the first Napoleon. The old church 
is hung with battle flags, and the later portion of the edifice is in the 
classical style and is truly elegant. The massive sarcophagus with 
marble statues standing about it, the superb high altar flooded with 
golden light from the painted windows, and the lofty dome rising upward 
from the stately columns that support it, are all in themselves and in 
their combined effect as remarkable for artistic perfection as for the ex- 
pense said to have been lavished upon them. 

In a line of open booths close by the street, as we pass, lay gay and 
handsomely attired figures in wax. So perfect was the representation 
to real life that the scene was both startling and wonderful. 

Near the center of the city is the He de la Cite, where is situated the 
Palais de Justice, in the south court of which stands the Sainte Chapelle, 
a most beautiful example of Gothic design. The great windows are 
partly filled with the old stained glass, remarkable for the richness and 
brilliancy of its color. Also near is the Tribunal of Commerce, one of 
the most elegant of the new public buildings. 

On this same island is the Notre Dame, the great cathedral of Paris, 
which is a very prominent object in the city. It was founded in the 
twelfth century, and had suffered much from alterations and mutilations, 
but has been completely and admirably restored. The Notre Dame is 
a vast cruciform structure, with its lofty west front flanked by two square 
towers, and walls sustained by many flying buttresses. The eastern end 
is octagonal. Immediately behind the Notre Dame is the morgue. 

One afternoon, not knowing where we were going, I accompanied 
the party till we came before a large parallelogram structure, surrounded 
by a Corinthian colonnade, on the wide steps of which stood crowds of 



464 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



men. By much endeavor the entrance to the great edifice was reached, 
and we were about to pass through when we were met and repulsed by 
a gruff, fierce looking armed official, who, in hasty words in French, 
forbade us admittance. We thought to effect an entrance through an-, 
other way close by, but the same official, now greatly enraged, met us, 
accompanied by others, and we made a hasty retreat through the hissing 
crowd to the street below, where we indulged in a hearty laugh. We 
had been to the Bourse, or Paris stock exchange, where it is not cus- 
tomary, even as spectators, for women to appear. 

Near the Bourse is the great market of the Halles Centrales, and 
not far distant stands St. Eustache, the loftiest church in Paris. 

Where the Boulevard de Sebastopole crosses the Rue de Viola 
there stands the Tour St. Jacques. In the vaulted chamber at the base 
is a statue of Pascal, who used this tower for his experiments on atmos- 
pheric pressure. 

Historically and architecturally, one of the most interesting buildings 
in Paris is the Hotel de Ville, which we pass on our right. 

By a tramway we reach the Bastile. The Place de la Bastile is the 
site of the ancient fortress and prison of the Bastile, destroyed in 1 789 
by the Parisian mob, which was the opening act of the revolution. Not 
a vestige of it exists, but its site is marked by the Column of July, 153 
feet high, surmounted by a figure of Liberty. 

We pass down by the Garede 1' Arsenal, and cross the Seine to the 
Jardin des Plantes, where are both pleasure grounds and a museum of 
natural history, west of which is the Pantheon, or church of St. Gene- 
vieve. It was built for a church, but in 1885, when Victor Hugo was 
buried in it, it became a Pantheon for the third time. In the vaults are 
the tombs of Mirabeau, Marat, Voltaire and Rousseau, who were for- 
merly buried here. The fine statuary above it represents France distribut- 
ing garlands to her sons. 

We enter the extensive gardens of the Luxembourg, in which are 
fine conservatories of rare plants. The place has been palace, prison 
and senate house, by turns. At the back of the place, where a statue 
now stands, Marshal Ney was shot. Farther north is the Hotel de 



Homeward Bound. 



465 



Cluny, which is rich in Roman and medieval antiquities. Within the 
grounds are the remains of the Palace des Thermes, a portion of the 
baths connected with the old Roman palace of the governer of Gaul, 
probably built in the latter part of the sixth century. And on our return, 
west of the Jardins Luxembourg, stood a fine large edifice, the Notre 
Dame. 

The morning of our last day in Paris we sailed up the Seine to the 
principal part of the city, spending the greater part of the morning at the 
Louvre, where we rambled through gallery after gallery of paintings and 
statuary. The Louvre was a royal residence in the reign of Dagobert, 
628. Francis I. erected that part of the palace which is now called the 
old Louvre, and the buildings have been enlarged and adorned by suc- 
cessive kings. The new edifice was begun by Napoleon I. and com- 
pleted by Napoleon III. in 1857. The whole group of buildings is 
distinguished by its great extent, and by its elegant and sumptuous archi- 
tecture. It contains museums of paintings, drawings, engravings, bronze 
antiques and sculptures, ancient and modern. In the afternoon we again 
returned to these galleries. 

We had spent the few days of our stay in the city industriously. 
There were other places and objects of interest to be visited in Paris and 
vicinity, but we had viewed many of the principal sights, and the follow- 
ing morning several of our party would leave the city for Cherbourg, 
from where they would sail homeward in the Kronprinz Wilhelm. That 
evening two of us left Pans by train to cross the channel to England. I 
expected to return home three weeks later in the Kaiser Wilhelm der 
Grosse by way of Portsmouth, Eng. When on the way to the channel 
I remembered that our conductor had in his possession the receipt for my 
Atlantic ticket; but I anticipated that before sailing the next day he 
would discover his negligence and forward it to me at my destination in 
Scotland. But after two weeks I received notice from New York that 
he had mailed the receipt to the North German Lloyd office, London, 
where I obtained it the day before sailing. 

One may leave Paris in the evening and be in London in the morn- 
ing. From midnight we were five hours crossing the channel, which 



31 



466 A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 

to many proves a long, serious experience. And one is exceedingly for- 
tunate who crosses this turbulent body of water in health as well as 
safety. On the return voyage on the water I had experienced little dis- 
comfort from seasickness, but gladly left the boat when we reached the 
English coast at New Haven. When passing out, I observed the 
friend who accompanied me, pale, solemn and crest-fallen, and had 
neither courage nor heart' to ask him how -he had passed the night. At 
New Haven we waited some little time till our luggage was inspected by 
the custom house officials. 

Our train to London passed through fine scenery and several towns; 
but I, though arduously rocked on the billows of the channel, had slept 
little, and was too overcome by sleep to appreciate the view. As we 
continued our journey from Rome our party had become fewer and fewer 
in unmber, members of it having taken other routes, stopped off here 
or there, or returned homeward ; and so from London I faced the cold 
world alone. 

At the Victoria station I secured a cab and was conveyed, across 
the city, to the Pancreas station. This was my second visit to London, 
and as we passed through the city I observed several familiar sights. It 
was pleasant indeed to be again where the English language was uni- 
versally spoken, and the aged cabman's deep, broad Scotch words had 
in them a richness and homelike melody such as I had not heard for 
some time. 

I traveled by way of the Midland, passing through Leeds and 
Carlisle with but few stops. The scenery along the way was delightful ; 
the train arrived in Edinburgh at 6 p. m. I had reached the land of 
Burns, the home of my ancestors. Changing cars, a Scotch porter car- 
ried my suit case, and at the bridge of Earn the train was stopped for 
my especial accommodation, which marked kindness to an American 
stranger was much appreciated. I was soon among friends whom I had 
returned to visit. I also spent a few days in Perth, the former home of 
my parents, which is situated on the banks of the Tay and is an important 
railway junction. 



Homeward Bound. 



467 



At Perth the Tay is spanned by several bridges and the city con- 
tains two large parks called Inches. Near the city is a picturesque 
elevation called Kinnoulde hill, from which a very interesting view of the 
surrounding country and the many windings of the Tay can be seen. 
Near Perth is the palace of Scone, a fine large structure with beautiful 
surroundings. 

I visited Abemethy, the place of my father's birth, and where several 
of his people yet reside. Near the main street stands a round tower 
seventy-two feet high, supposed to have been built by the ancient Picts in 
the ninth century. Near the foot of the tower is a small cemetery where 
rests the remains of my grandparents and other relatives. From the 
highest part of the village can be seen the links, both of the Tay and the 
Earn. An extensive cloth manufactory, the enterprise of a cousin, is 
a main industry of the place. I visited friends near Inchture, and others 
at Bonnie Dundee, where I remained for several days. 

At the station in Dundee, eight or ten young women in short, blue 
and redstriped skirts, and trim boots, stood and waited. Their clothes 
were scrupulously clean and their red cheeks and buoyant spirits indicated 
both health and happiness. Soon a workman hurled in a flat barrow 
laden with baskets of fish; each woman assisted her neighbor with a 
basket on her back and the workman kindly lent a helping hand. As I 
watched this little scene, so homely and kindly, I thought of the words 
of the Scotch poet, "A man's a man, for a' that." 

"Then let us pray that come it may, 

As come it will for a' that. 
That ense and worth, o'er a' the earth, 
May bear the gree. and a' that — 
For a' that and a' that. 

It's coming- yet for a' that, 
When man to man. the warld o'er, 
Shall brothers be for a' that." 

When we are called up yonder, perhaps our rank or social distinction 
will be unquestioned ; but, for such offices of kindness will be given a just 
reward. 

At the station in Aberdeen I enjoyed a pleasant visit with a devout 
and adorable Scotch lady. Our conversation in time became confidential, 



468 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



and she modestly informed me that she had received marked recognition 
from lady so and so, and so and so. This bit of information was both 
interesting and amusing, and I found pleasure in my friend's joy, as I 
realized the different ranks or stages of society existing in Great Britain 
as well as in other countries of the old world. But, in our own country, 
each individual is the architect of his own destiny, and we all belong to 
one great class. 

The train conveyed us along the seaside till we reached the station of 
Fochabers, in the north of Scotland. Here I employed a party to con- 
vey me to the town of Fochabers, four or five miles distant. The twilight 
lingers long in June, and the drive over the good roads amid fine scenery 
was inspiring and impressive; and of all the places I had seen of late, I 
think this was the most beautiful, or it seemed so to me. My friends 
received me kindly and were exceedingly entertaining during the few 
days I remained with them. In the morning we played at golf on the 
Duke of Gordon's grounds. We took long walks to the deer park, 
the home farm, and the river Spay, the longest and most rapid river in 
Scotland. After the sun was down one evening, we walked by the 
riverside. About us were acres covered with grose, high bushes with 
dark green foliage and deep orange blossoms, which, at this time, were 
in their greatest loveliness. The scene was one long to be remembered. 
Spending several days at this place very pleasantly with kind friends, I 
left them ladened with gifts, among which were a beautiful bible and 
a large ginger bread. Of the latter I gave generous portions to friends 
on both sides of the Atlantic. But more than all else I valued the pure 
affection given so spontaneously and truly, the remembrance of which 
is indeed pleasant. 

The scenery among the Scottish highlands is most beautiful and 
varied. In the distance, the mountain tops are covered with snow; 
silvery streams fall over steep descents; beautiful lakes, extensive fields 
and forests, villages and cities may be seen in a few miles travel. 

But I leave "Bonnie Scotland" and pass through England to Lon- 
don, where I remain but a short time and view again Trafalgar square, 
the parliament buildings and St. James park. The grounds surround- 



Homeward Bound, 



ing Buckingham palace have been beautifully laid out in flowers, plants- 
and statuary since I saw it last. 

After service in Westminster abbey, I was surprised and pleased to- 
meet several friends of the Kurfurst party whom I had not met since 
we left the ship at Naples, and, at the St. Ermin Hotel were others of 
the party. Some would remain in Europe for a time; while others 
sailed for America the following day in the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse^ 
From the Waterloo station a special train conveyed us to Southampton. 
There were about forty of the Kurfurst party returning homeward at 
this time, several of whom I had not known before, so large was our 
party. But our common experiences now caused us to seem like old 
friends. 

There were forty students from Sweden aboard the Kaiser Wilhelm, 
en route for St. Louis exposition, and they sometimes favored us with 
concerts and songs in their own language. 

The Kaiser Wilhelm is a much larger ship than the Kurfurst. 
There were sixteen hundred cabin and an equal number of steerage 
passengers. It was interesting to observe this great body of immigrants 
when out on deck, and as a whole they were a fine lot. They were 
almost all young men and women, and were a healthy, sturdy company, 
vigorous and hopeful. In the new land to which they journey, may their 
anticipations be realized and may they become worthy citizens of our 
great republic. 

We were six days crossing the Atlantic. The weather was stormjr 
and the sea exceedingly rough during the greater part of the voyage, 
consequently much seasickness prevailed; but fortunately I escaped this; 
uncomfortable experience and enjoyed much the sea voyage home- 
ward. 

When in midocean, on her return voyage, the Grosser Kurfurst 
passed very near by us. We were pleased to again see the ship that 
had been our home for so long and so pleasant a time. It indeed was 
like meeting a former friend. 

A banquet was given the evening before our arrival. The dining 
room was brightly decorated, and at the close of the feast the lights were 



470 



A Pilgrimage to Canaan. 



turned off, and to music marched around the extensive tables 200 waiters, 
each bearing a tray containing illuminated confections, concealed candles 
surrounded by ice cream compositions in the form of squares or images, 
and of which each guest was invited to partake, together with portions 
of a scroll-like cake, which was built high up on the table and sur- 
mounted by small flags or paper caps which each guest if he chose could 
wear. 

The last day on ship was of course the most happy, for we were 
rearing the shore of our homeland. No other land seemed so dear. 

j "Breathes there the man with soul so dead, 

Who never to himself hath said, 

This is my own, my native land? 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, 
As home his footsteps he hath turned 
From wandering on a foreign strand?" 

The entrance to the harbor at New York is indeed a beautiful sight, 
and we were grateful to have returned in health and safety. It was late 
in the day when we arrived in port. Those who chose could leave the 
ship that evening, but many remained. We were requested to take all 
our luggage down to the landing place for inspection to save time in the 
morning. After much waiting and many preliminaries, my baggage 
was relieved and checked, but I returned to the stairs leading to the ship 
with my necessary hand bag, I could not enter with it till the check was 
removed, and the next morning the same process of inspection was 
renewed. But I had profited by the previous night's experience and had 
little difficulty. 

An investigating official debated with a party that the articles of 
clothing in his grip were not worth half the value at which they were 
given, which seemed an unusual matter for dispute. We received in- 
structions in regard to obtaining our hold baggage, which came to New 
York in the Grosser Kurfurst some three weeks before and was stored in 
the custom house. In New York City we were directed by officials from 
one office to another in various parts of the city, and at one were sneered 
at as being "Jerusalem pilgrims." We were accustomed to traveling by 



Homeward Bound. 



471 



this time, however, and the appellation "Jerusalem Pilgrims" was not 
harmful, and after long waiting and many preliminaries, we obtained a 
check for our baggage with assurance that it would be duly inspected 
and sent to our address, where it could be obtained by meeting !:he 
required charges of inspection, storage and freights 



APPENDIX 



474 



Appendix. 



APPENDIX. 

List of Memb ers and their Residences. 

Miss Jessie E. Arbuckle Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Rev. W. W. Abbott, B. A., B. D Neepawa, Manitoba 

Miss Jessie Ackerman Apollo, Pa. 

Rev. Isaac S. Anderson, D. D .Rose Hill, Va. 

Mrs. Anderson Rose Hill, Va. 

Miss Nannie L. Anderson Rose Hill, Va. 

Mr. J. C. Aitken Schenectady, N. Y. 

Mrs. Aitken Schenectady, N. Y. 

Mr. David C. Anderson Frankfort, O. 

Mr. James Allison Wichita, Kan. 

Mrs. Allison Wichita, Kan. 

Rev. Edgar W. Allen Fort Wayne, Ind. 

Rev. Ernest B. Allen Toledo, O. 

Mrs. Wm. L. Allen .Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Mrs. R. E. Avery Glens Falls, N. Y. 

Miss Carrie E. Allomong Cincinnati, O. 

Mr. Robt. L. Adams Gastonia, N. C. 

Rev. Frank S. Arnold Portsmouth, O. 

Mrs. Edw. W. Adams Baltimore, Md. 

Rev. Geo. Anderson Somerville, Mass. 

Mrs. M. L. Ay ers Pittsburg, Pa. 

Miss E. S. Ayers Pittsburg, Pa. 

Rev. Thompson Ashburn Evansville, Ind. 

Mrs. Annie E. Anderson Westmount, Montreal, Can. 

Miss Charlotte D. Anderson Westmount, Montreal, Can. 

Mr. E. W. Bassett Indianapolis, Ind. 

Mrs. Carrie H. Bassett Indianapolis, Ind. 

Miss Esther M. Bassett Indianapolis, Ind. 

Master E. H. Bassett Indianapolis, Ind. 

Mr. Chas. Baumgartner Pandora, O. 

Mr. G. A. Buffitt Grand Bank, N. F. 

Rev. S. H. Boyer, D. D Decatur, 111. 

Mrs. Mary F. Bryner Peoria, 111. 

Mr. Winfield H. Brock Athol, Mass. 

Mrs. Brock Athol, Mass. 

Miss Almeda Burchill Hibernia, N. B. 

Dr. L. Haynes Buxton Oklahoma City, O. T. 

Mr. J. A. Boughton Everett, O. 



Appendix. 



475 



Mrs. Boughton Everett, O. 

Mrs. J. Woodbridge Barnes Newark, N. J. 

Rev. W. S. Brown Sand Lake, N. Y. 

Mrs. W. S. Brown Sand Lake, N. Y. 

Miss Meme D. Brockway Wellsville, Kan. 

Mr. T. R. Burpe Ottawa, Ont. 

Mrs. Burpe Ottawa, Ont. 

Miss L. Burpe Ottawa, Ont. 

Mrs. Ann R. Black Terre Haute, Ind. 

Dr. Geo. W. Bailey Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mr. J. A. Burhaus Evanston, 111. 

Mrs. Burhaus Evanston, 111. 

Rev. Dr. Ralph Brecken Toronto, Ont. 

Mrs. Brecken Toronto, Ont. 

Dr. S. A. Bass Wichita, Kan. 

Mrs. Bass Wichita, Kan. 

Rev. Stuart S. Bates, D. D Toronto, Ont. 

Mrs. Daniel W. Beiger Mishawaka, Ind. 

Mr. M. Percy Black St. Louis, Mo. 

Mr. Samuel Charles Black Clinton, 111. 

Mrs. Black Clinton, 111. 

Rev. J. W. Bruce, B. A Macleod, Can. 

Mrs. Bruce Macleod, Can. 

Rev. H. H. Bell, D. D San Francisco, Cal. 

Mr. Geo. A. Bennett Richmond, Ind. 

Miss E. J. Buddemer Portland, Ore. 

Mrs. Sallie J. Brice Willmette, 111. 

Rev. W. S. Brooks, D. D Chicago, 111. 

Rev. E. G. Beyer Maynard, la. 

Rev. R. G. Bannen South Willi amsport, Pa. 

Rev. Hugh N. Bannen Rockford, 111. 

Mrs. Adrienne Boyd Carrollton, 111. 

Miss Belle L. Bentley Des Moines, la. 

Mr. A. S. Baker Evansville, Wis. 

Mrs. A. S. Baker Evansville, Wis. 

Mr. Charles A. Baskerville Los Angeles, Cal. 

Mrs. Baskerville Los Angeles, Cal. 

Rev. John F. Boeye Fort Worth, Tex. 

Rev. Clarence C. Bonnell North Vernon, Ind. 

Mr. W. C. Blattler Belpree, Kan. 

Mr. F. C. Berger Grand Rapids, Mich. 

Dr. John Brown, Ph. D Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. Noble T. Biddle San Jose, Cal. 

Miss Julia E. Bell Greenwich, Conn. 

Mrs. DeW. C. Benham New York City 

Mr. John G. Brown Marshalltown, la. 

Mrs. Brown (died) Marshalltown, la. 

Miss H. L. Briggs East Somerville, Mass. 



476 



Appendix. 



Mrs. John W. Bulkley Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Miss Elsie M. Bosbyshell Los Angeles, Cal. 

Mr. J. N. Ballard Greenville, W. Va. 

Mr. John W. Blank Emporia, Kan. 

Miss Eveline M. Birth New York City 

Rev. G. W. Banks k .Memphis, Tenn. 

Miss S. Linnie Boughner Shamokin, Pa. 

Rev. Charles H. Butler Washington, D. C. 

Mr. Warren E. Burns Marietta, O. 

Rev. Walter J. Bruce Springfield, Mo. 

Rev. DeW. M. Benham Baltimore, Md. 

Mr. Albert J. Bailey Wilmington, O. 

Mrs. Bailey. . . . Wilmington, O. 

Mrs. Eunice Budlong Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. Clara A. Bucklin Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. Amy S. Burrows Providence, R. L 

Mrs. D. B. Bennett Madison, Wis. 

Mr. M. L. Blackburn .Bellaire, O. 

Mr. Wm. L. Condit Hoboken, N. J. 

Mrs. Condit Hoboken, N. J. 

Mr. F. W. Chamberlain Three Oaks, Mich. 

Mr. L. Scott Carswell Baltimore, Md. 

Mrs. Carswell Baltimore, Md. 

Rev. Robert L. Clark Lancaster, Pa. 

Mr. Ulysses A. Clayton Fairmont, W. Va. 

Rev. F. L. Cleveland No. Hanover, Mass, 

Mrs. Cleveland No. Hanover, Mass. 

Mrs. Archibald E. Cann Yarmouth, N. S. 

Miss E. Mabel Cann Yarmouth, N. S. 

Mrs. R. G. H. Cooper Yonkers, N. Y. 

Rev. Alvin A. Cober Dayton, O. 

Miss Alberta Carruthers Memphis, Tenn. 

Miss Emily Carruthers Memphis, Tenn. 

Rev. Benj. Cox Little Rock, Ark. 

Mrs. Benj. Cox Little Rock, Ark. 

Mr. W. M. Cundiff ..Siloam, N. C. 

Mrs. Cundiff Siloam, N. C. 

Mr. Kendrick Chamberlin Los Angeles, Cal. 

Mr. Walter H. Clemes Toronto, Ont. 

Mrs. Clemes Toronto, Ont. 

Miss Lillie R. Corwin Rochester, N. Y. 

Mr. Alfred Chial Lake Park, Minn. 

Mr. W. T. Childs Fremont, O. 

Rev. H. D. Cameron, B. A Allandale, Ont. 

Mr. Joseph Carthel Montgomery, Ala. 

Mr. Ira D .Clymer Findlay, O. 

Mr. Arthur B. Collmer Columbus, O. 

Mr. Sydney Clarke Grand Forks, N. D. 



Appendix. 



477 



Mrs. Sydney Clarke Grand Forks, N. D. 

Mrs. Wilbur F. Crafts Washington, D. C. 

Abbott A. Chase Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mr. W. S. Coulter Dyer, Tenn. 

Miss Mattie Belle Coulter , Dyer, Tenn. 

Mr. Clinton C. Cobb York, Neb. 

Mrs. Cobb York, Neb. 

Rev. W. J. Cain Marine City, Mich. 

Mr. A. T. Cuddeback Passaic, N. J.. 

Mrs. Cuddeback Passaic, N. J. 

Rev. Adelbert Chapman New York City 

Mrs. Augusta I. Crane New York City 

Mr. Frederick 11. Camp Bement, 111. 

Miss Emma A. Camp Bement, I1L. 

Rev. G. C. Cromer Louisville, Ky. 

Mr. Allan L. Curtis Castlewood, S. D. 

Mr. Chas. S. Cherrington Columbus, O. 

Mr. J. T. Chynoweth Milwaukee, Wis.. 

Mr. W. L. Collamore Warren, R. I. 

Rev. A. B. Churchman New York City 

Miss M. Louise Cowan Toronto, Ont.. 

Mr. H. W. Clark North Adams, Mass.. 

Mrs. Clark North Adams, Mass. 

Rev. Joseph Clark, D. D Columbus, O. 

Mr. J. M. Canedy North Adams, Mass.. 

Rev. H. B. Cady Warren, R. I. 

Mr. Jas. L. Carson Wapakoneta, O. 

Rev. Ellen A. Copp .Evansville, Wis. 

Miss Laura A. Carraway Chicago, IU_ 

Miss Lucy M. Crane Weymouth, Mass.. 

Mr. Wm. A. Copeland Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. Copeland Providence, R. I. 

Miss Jean Conklin New York City 

Miss Lillian M. Coffin Providence, R. I. 

Miss Fannie Gale Chapin Rochester, N. Y. 

Miss Pattie Campbell Longacre, W. Va. 

Miss Ethie E. Cartwright Gilboa, O. 

Miss Evelyn T. Chandler Gloucester, Mass. 

Col. Robt. Cowden Dayton, O. 

Miss Annie Callaway Macon, Ga. 

Miss Elizabeth Channell West Chester, Pa. 

Miss Clara Pearl Dyer Providence, R. L 

Mrs. W. H. Doty New York City 

Mr. B. F. Dreisback Circleville, O. 

Miss E. A Donnell Greensburg, Ind. 

Mr. Geo. P. Davis Fremont, Neb. 

Rev. James G. Dale Rio Verde, Mexico 

Dr. C. T. Dowling Norway, S. C. 



478 



Appendix. 



Mr. Leander T. Dowd. Norwalk, O. 

Mr. Jabez B. Dennis. Traer, la. 

Mrs. Emma V. Darling ' Brattleboro, Vt. 

Mr. Francis A. Davis Baltimore, Md. 

Mrs. Davis Baltimore, Md. 

Mr. Victor E. Dessart New York City 

"Mrs. Dessart New York City 

Miss Victoria E. Dessart New York City 

Miss Lillian Dodson .Baltimore, Md. 

Mrs. L. H. Davis W. Nashville, Tenn. 

."Miss Anne Dysart Brownsville, Tex. 

Rev. W. E. Dozier Carrollton, Ga. 

Mr. J. H. Davis Reeds, Mo. 

Miss Catherine D. Denman Petaluma, Cal. 

Miss Lelia J. Dabney Sewanee, Tenn. 

Rev. Wilson Denney , Charles City, la. 

Miss Elizabeth B. Dawes Petersham, Mass. 

Hon. J. M. Dull Dull, O. 

Mr. Elbridge G. Davis Somerville, Mass. 

Mrs. Davis Somerville, Mass. 

Mrs. Louise Ludlam De Bost New York City 

Rev. G. R. Ellis Brooklyn, Miss. 

Mr. Wm. A. Eudaly Cincinnati, O. 

Mrs. Eudaly Cincinnati, O. 

Mr. Jno. B. Edman Buckland, O. 

Mr. Carl A. Entrekin Kingston, O. 

Mrs. C. A. Entrekin Kingston, O. 

Mr. T. S. Edwards Iroquois, Ont. 

Mr. J. H. Engle Abilene, Kan. 

Rev. Wm. J. Ford Jamestown, N. Y. 

Mr. J. E. Ferner Somerset, Pa. 

Mr. Jno. W. L. Forster . Toronto, Ont. 

Mr. Jno. Fletcher . Providence, R. I. 

Rev. R. S. Finley • • .Cedardale, O. T. 

Mr. J. W. Freeman Freeman, Ont. 

Rev. J. A. Francis Winchester, Ky. 

Mr. Jas. M. Forbush .Boston, Mass. 

Mrs. Forbush Boston, Mass. 

Rev. William Frizzell, Ph. B Toronto, Ont. 

Mr. G. A. Funkhauser Dayton, O. 

Mr. A. D. Fisher Granville, 111. 

"Mrs. Fisher Granville, 111. 

Mr. J. B. Foley Crowley, La. 

Mrs. Foley Crowley, La. 

Mr. E. A. Fox Louisville, Ky. 

Hev. S. A. Fraser Trinidad, B. W. I. 

Rev. Jno. F. Foster New Orleans, La. 

Mr. T. P. Fordham Essex, Conn. 



Appendix. 



479' 



Mr. Stephen Findlay Daytona, Fia. 

Mrs. Findlay Daytona, Fla. 

Mrs. Servetus Q. Fulton Wilmington, O. 

Mrs. Jennie E. Fullward .- Los Angeles, Cal. 

Rev. H. S. Faust Caro, Mich.. 

Rev. C. R. Ferner Scottdale, Pa. 

Mr. George Forrest New York City 

Mrs. Forrest New York City 

Miss Minne H. Garrett. Toronto, Ont. 

Mr. Chas. T. Griffith Shawnee, O.- 
Mrs. Griffith Shawnee, O- 

Mr. J. J. Grubbs Wapakoneta, O. 

Miss Anna M. Gleason Kewanee, 111.. 

Rev. Everette Gill, Th. D Louisville, Ky. 

Mr. Sam'l Grubbs Arcanum, O. 

Mr. R. B. Griffith Grand Forks, N. D. 

Mrs. Griffith Grand Forks, N. D. 

Mr. Paul B. Griffith Grand Forks, N. D. 

Rev. T. K. Gale Chicago, Ill- 
Miss B. O. Gardner Troutville, Va. 

Mrs. Marguerite C. Gates New York City 

Rev. Wm. G. Griffin Westchester, N. Y. 

Miss Jessie L. Gregory New York City 

Mr. Chas. K. Geddes Williamsport, Pa- 
Mr. Spencer O. Greer .St. Paul, Minn. 

Mrs. Henry Grant Wilmington, Del. 

Mrs. Martha K. Grant Wilmingotn, Del. 

Rev. G. W. Gales, D. D Greenville, Miss.. 

Mr. L. D. Greenmayer Niles, Mich 

Mrs. Jennie Patten Goodwin Rochester, N. Y. 

Mr. W. H. Gibson ! Brantford, Ont. 

Miss Gertrude A. True Boston, Mass. 

Mrs. J. W. Going Topeka, Kan. 

Mrs. J. W. E. Gilliland Ft. Worth, Tex. 

Rev. Geo. J. Gonaware ...Rochester, Pa. 

Miss Marie B. Garrison Oklahoma City, O. T.- 
Mrs. Julia Gunhus Mt. Horeb, Wis. 

Miss Edith A. Garland Gloucester, Mass.. 

Miss E. C. Gifford Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. Emily Gillette Toronto, Ont.. 

Mr. R. J. M. Glassford Chalmers, Ont. 

Miss Ida M. Grabill Minneapolis, Minn- 
Mr. Jno. W. Grandy Norfolk, Va. 

Mrs. Grandy Norfolk, Va. 

Dr. Jas. Grassick Buxton, N. D. 

Mrs. Grassick Buxton, N. D. 

Miss Jessie C. Grassick Buxton, N. D. 

Rev. S. S. Hough Altoona, Pa.. 



480 



Appendix. 



Rev. Alex. Henry Frankford, Pa. 

Mrs. G. L .Hicks i Allegan, Mich. 

Miss Bessie M. Hicks Allegan, Mich. 

Rev. George B. Hatch Berkeley, Cal. 

Rev. Jno. H. Hoffman North Reading, Mass. 

Mr. Isaac Hord Mitchell, Ont. 

Mrs. Hord Mitchell, Ont. 

Rev. Geo. N. Hartley Tecumseh, Okla. 

Mrs. Hartley Tecumseh, Okla, 

Mr. W. N. Hartshorn Boston, Mass. 

Mrs. Hartshorn Boston, Mass. 

Miss Ida Upham Harsthorn Boston, Mass. 

Miss Wilma Hammarstrom Berwyn, 111. 

Miss Lydia B. Holmes Plymouth, Mass. 

Rev. McD. Howsare Maple Rapids, Mich. 

Mr. M. A. Hudson Syracuse, N. Y. 

Mrs. Hudson Syracuse, N. Y. 

Miss May Hudson Syracuse, N. Y. 

Mrs. Mary L. Hargrove Kansas City, Mo. 

Miss Jean R. Harris Toronto, Ont. 

Rev. Cyrus M. Hartzell Latrobe, Pa. 

Mr. J. F. Harden Logan, O. 

Mr. H. P. Hart Roby, 111. 

Mr. J. William Hoffman : No. Reading, Mass. 

Mr. Jno. C. Hicks St. Johns, Mich. 

Mrs. Jno. Hicks St. Johns, Mich. 

Rev. Samuel Harris Rugby, N. D. 

Miss Mamie Haines Lincoln, Neb. 

Rev. J. M. Henry New Orleans, La. 

Mr. Geo. C. Higby Marquette, Mich. 

Mrs. Higby Marquette, Mich. 

Miss Caroline Hansell Hartford, Conn. 

Rev. A. B. Higgins Digby, N. S. 

Rev. E. L. Howe Stonewall, Minn. 

Capt. Josiah Hopkins Mill Village, N. S. 

Mrs. Hopkins Mill Village, N. S. 

Rev. Horace P. Hill Camden, N. J. 

Mr. Jno. D. Haskell Wakefield, Neb. 

Mrs. Haskell Wakefield, Neb. 

Miss Faith Haskell Wakefield, Neb. 

Mr. Wm. F. Hoehn Portsmouth, N. H. 

Hon. Hy. Houck, Ph. D Lebanon, Pa. 

Mr. Andrew Hertzel Warren, Pa. 

Mr. Alfonso Herrera Merida, Yucatan 

Miss Annie F. Heaiey Hampton Falls, N. H. 

Mr. Chas. C. Hall Elmira, N. Y. 

Mr. Philip S. Horty Philadelphia, Pa. 

Rev. Robert Hunter Philadelphia, Pa. 



Appendix. 



481 



Mrs. Hunter Philadelphia, Pa. 

Miss Marge B. Hutchinson Caspina, La. 

Mr. T. S. Hutchinson Caspina, La. 

Mrs. Hutchinson Caspina, La. 

Mr. R. D. Hamilton La Grande, Ore. 

Rev. Waletr Holcomb Statesville, N. C. 

Mrs. John T. Hamilton Cedar Rapids, la. 

Miss Florence N. Hartman Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Mr. Edward H. Hammond Pawtucket, R. I. 

Mrs. Hammond Pawtucket, R. I. 

Miss Julia E Hyer Washington C. H., Ohio 

Mr. Simon Herr Blufton, O. 

Rev. Peter J Henness Niagara, N. D. 

Mr. W. E. Hazeltine San Jose, Cal. 

Miss Kate Hughes Hardin, Mo. 

Rev. Jno. Hammond Columbus, O. 

Rev. W. B. Humphrey Buffalo, N. Y. 

Mr. Frederick Hofmann Chicago, 111 

Rev. Paul B. Holtgrove Polo, 111. 

Miss Fannie Lee Hall Springfield, Mass. 

Mr. Edward Higginson Wichita, Kan. 

Miss Lena Hill Providence, R. I. 

Mr. A. C. Harte Mobile, Ala. 

Rev. G. R. Hammond Mellott, Ind. 

Rev E. L. Hill Eufaula, Ala. 

Rev. David L. Holbrook Union City, Mich. 

Mr. Wm. R. Hartz, Sr Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mr. W. H. Irwin Winnipeg, Man. 

Mr. Alfonso Irwin Camden, N. J. 

Rev. H. A. Ingham Keosauqua, la. 

Miss Pauline M. de Iesi ...Pittsburg, Pa. 

Rev. J. W. Irion Dyer, Tenn. 

Mr. James R. Jopling Danville, Va. 

Rev David Lee Jamison Fredonia, N. Y. 

Mr. W. B. Jacobs .Chicago, 111. 

Mr. Wm. Johnson Belleville, Ont. 

Mrs. I. D. Jones Cincinnati, O. 

Mr. F. M. Joslin Frederick, S. D. 

Mrs. Joslin Frederick, S. D. 

Miss Marian L. Joslin Frederick, S. D. 

Rev. Jesse J. Johnson Louisville, Ky. 

Miss A. M. Jones Newtown, O. 

Mrs. M. C. Jackson Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mr. F. H. Jacobs New York City 

Mrs. Kate G. Jones Elgin, 111. 

Miss Armilda Johnson Washington C. H., Ohio. 

Mr. D. S. Johnston Tacoma, Wash. 

Miss Aurilla V. Jeffers Shelby ville, Ind 



32 



482 



Appendix. 



Rev. B. A. Johnson, D. D Newport, R. I. 

Rev. D. Evans Jones . Venedocia, O. 

Mr. E. C. Knapp Three Oaks, Mich. 

Mr. Hiram W. Kellogg Indianapolis, Ind. 

Miss Katheryn E. Keith, M. D Panora, la. 

Mr. Louis H. Koehler Hamilton, O. 

Mrs. Sallie Knight Louisville, Ky. 

Mrs. Mary E. King Holland, Mich. 

Rev. Mead A. Kelsey Pottersville, Mass. 

Mrs. Isabel E. Kemp...... Galesburg, N. D. 

Miss Rose Keller Springfield, O. 

Rev. T. L. Ketman, D. D .Chicago, 111. 

Mrs. Ketman Chicago, 111 

Rev. David H. King, D. D Vineland, N. J 

Mr. E. W. Kirk Gurneyville, O. 

Miss Emma Kremers Whitehall, Wis. 

Mr. Zach Kinne Three Oaks, Mich. 

Rev. Albert C. Ketron Fall Branch, Tenn. 

Mrs. Ketron. Fall Branch, Tenn. 

Mr. Robert Kerr Wakefield, Kan. 

Rev. Geo. J. Klipfel Dayton, O. 

Rev. Evarts Kent Dunlap, la. 

Mrs. S. Baylor-Keenan Des Moines, la. 

Rev. Frank F. Lewis Syracuse, Neb. 

Mr. Albert Lahuis Zeeland, Mich 

Mrs. Lahuis Zeeland, Mich 

Dr. Casper K. Lahuis Kalamazoo, Mich. 

Mrs. Lahuis Kalamazoo, Mich. 

Mr. Jas. B. Leavell Oxford, Miss.- 

Mrs. L. P. Leavell . .. Oxford, Miss. 

Miss Jean Loomis Pasadena, Cal. 

Rev. Jacob Layton Truro, N. S. 

Mr. A. Lotterhos Crystal Springs, Miss. 

Mr. B. J. Loomis Jefierson, O. 

Miss Almeda E. Loomis Jefferson, O. 

Mrs. Harriet M. Longley St. Paul, Minn. 

Mr. Wm. D. Laumaster Danville, Pa. 

Mr. Geo. P. Ludlam New York City 

Mrs. S. W. Lincoln New York City 

Mrs. L. A. Lelean Redlands, Cal. 

Rev. Thomas Lawrence, D. D Asheville, N. C. 

Miss Johnnie Logan Macon, Ga. 

Miss Sarah A. Lindley Nashville, Tenn. 

Mrs. E. C. Lee Toledo, O. 

Mr. Wm. Luhmann Mt. Vernon, N. Y. 

Miss Irene E. Lauks W. York, Pa. 

Miss Tillie Lambert Liberty, Ind. 

Rev. W. P. Lovejoy, D. D Athens, Ga. 



Appendix. 



483 



Rev. F. X. Lynch, A. M Wichita, Kan. 

Mr. L. P. Leavell Oxford, Miss 

Rev. Feter Lindsay, D. D Rochester, N. Y. 

Rev. J. M. Lowden Providence, R. I. 

Mr. Marion Lawrence Toledo, O. 

Mr. Henry L. Lovering Coldwater, Ont. 

Mr. Joseph A. Latham Edgewood, R. I. 

Mrs. R. E. Larcom Beverly, Mass. 

Rev. Chas H. Lawrence Escondido, Cal. 

Miss Inda J. Milbury Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Mr. James Mcintosh Neepawa, Manitoba 

Dr. E. E. McKay Ottawa, 111. 

Mr. Augustus M. Mayo Lake Charles, La. 

Dr. George McArthur Danbury, Conn. 

Rev. Ralph W. McGranahan, D. D Knoxville, Tenn. 

Mrs. McGranahan Knoxville, Tenn. 

Rev. W. Bennett Maze Dawson, Neb. 

Rev. D. L. McQuarrie Riverside, Cal. 

Mr. Thos. Moore Bolton, Ga. 

Mrs. Moore Bolton, Ga. 

Rev. J. W. Millard Baltimore, Md. 

Rev. C. L. V. McKee, A. B Wellsville, O. 

Mr. W. A. Maclean Oak Lake, Man. 

Mr. Allan L. Maclean Winnipeg, Manitoba 

Mr. Josiah Morris Rockville, Ind. 

Miss Mary A. C. Mackay Boston, Mass. 

Miss Nellie L. Miller Baltimore, Md. 

Mr. Jos. T. Milliken Traverse City, Mich. 

Mrs. Jas. W. Milliken Traverse City, Mich. 

Miss Elizabeth Merritt Aledo, 111. 

Mrs. C. H. Morgan New York City 

Mr. Edw. K. Mohr Grand Rapids, Mich. 

Mr. T. W. Muilenburg ~> Grand Haven, Mich. 

Miss Louise M. Morrell Boston, Mass. 

Mrs. S. McCutcheon Toronto, Ont. 

Mr. B. F. Mitchell Des Moines, la. 

Mrs. Mitchell Des Moines, la. 

Mr. W. B. Morgan Montrose, Mo. 

Mr. Jno. W. Mackay Beaumont, Tex. 

Miss Minnie McBurney Chicago, 111. 

Mr. T. Marcellus Marshall Stouts Mills, W. Va. 

Rev. J. F. Mills Grand Forks, N. D. 

Rev. C. G. Murphy Oklahoma City, O. T. 

Rev. Wm. H. Medler York, Neb. 

Rev. Wm. H. McMillan Allegheny, Pa. 

Rev. Jno. T. Mason Albany, Mo. 

Dr. Jno. D. Malone Newburg, N. Y. 

Mrs. Alice T. Murphy , Newburg, N. Y. 



484 



Appendix. 



Mr. J. C. McFarland Chicago, III. 

Mrs. McFarland Chicago, 111. 

Miss Vera McFarland Chicago, Ill- 
Miss Elsie M. Mazurie , Atlantic City, N. J. 

Miss Laura B. McLaughlin St. John, N. B. 

Mr. Jno. B. Martin Maiden, Mass. 

Mrs. Martin . Maiden, Mass. 

Judge Joseph W. Martin Little Rock, Ark. 

Mrs. E. Mandeville Carrolton, Ga. 

Mrs. F. C. Miller Kansas City, Mo. 

Rev. N. A. Mershon Cedar Rapids, la. 

Rev. David W. Moore . .Springfield, Mo. 

Mr. W. F. Myers Apollo, Pa. 

Mr. Jas. M. Miller Wilmington, O.. 

Mrs. Miller Wilmington, O. 

Rev. W. H. Miller, D. D Bryn Mawr, Pa. 

Rev. F. H. Mullineux Kent Island, Md. 

Miss Delia McLaughlin Green sburg, Ind.. 

Mr. Geo. B. Minary Versailes, Ky.. 

Mr. A. B. McCrillis Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. McCrillis Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. W. H. Medler York, Neb. 

Miss Eva McCleland Jackson, Mich.. 

Rev. C. O'Neile Martindale Newnan, Ga. 

Rev. Sam'l W. Moore Pocahontas, Va.. 

Mr. Jno. L. Mullett Castleton, Ont. 

Mr. W. E. McVay Los Angeles, CaL. 

Rev. Harlow S. Mills Benzonia, Mich. 

Rev. Milton F. Negus Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mr. L. W. Nuttall Nuttallburg, W. Va. 

Mrs. Nuttall Nuttallburg, W. Va. 

Mr. John Nuttall Nuttallburg, W. Va. 

Mrs. Ella P. Neville 1 McComb City, Miss.. 

Mr. Wm. Nease Allegheny, Pa. 

Mrs. Nease Allegheny, Pa.. 

Rev. Henry E. Neff Bourbon, Ind.. 

Mr. J. F. Nusbaum Middlebury, Ind.. 

Mr. Henry P. Nunn Paducah, Ky. 

Rev. Wallace Nutting, D. D Providence, R. I.. 

Mrs. Nutting Providence, R. I. 

Mr. Clinton M. Norton Minneapolis, Minn. 

Rev. Chas. A. Oliver York, Pa.. 

Rev. J. Wm. Ott, D. D Grand Rapids, Mich. 

Mr. Edwin S. Osgood Chicago, 111.. 

Mrs. Osgood Chicago, 111. 

Rev. John C. Oehler , Taylor, Tex. 

Rev. Chas. H. Pettebone Denver, Colo. 

Rev. Wm. Parkinson Toronto, Ont. 



Appendix, 4*§5» 

Mr. J. M. Parker Nelsonville, O. 

Rev. Jno. W. Potter, Ph. D Bloomfield, Ia„ 

Mr. W. C. Pearce Chicago, HL 

Miss O. Edna Peterson . Concordia, Kan- 
Mrs. W. C. Puffer Portland, Ore. 

Miss Francis Phelps Sendai, Japan: 

Mr. Wilbur E. Pettus Huntsville, Ala... 

Rev. Theodore J. Parr, M. A .Guelph, Ont. 

Col. Stanley Plummer ..Dexter, Me.. 

Mrs. Plummer ..Dexter, Me„ 

Mr. Moses Puterbaugh .....Peru, Ind.. 

Mrs. Puterbaugh Peru, Ind.. 

Mr. P. Wayland Porter Fredericton, N. B.- 
Mr. John E. Porter East Somerville, Mass. 

Miss Alice Petton New Dorchester, Mass^. 

Rev. A. J. Preece Newfield, N. Jl. 

Prof. C. H. Parrish, D. D Louisville, Ky.. 

Mr. Homer Peters, Jr San Diego, CaL. 

Miss Margaret S. Pugh Kansas City, Mo.. 

Mr. Herbert E. Pratt Cavalier, N. D.. 

Dr. Esther C. Pohl Portland, Ore,. 

Dr. Jno. Potts Toronto, Ont.. 

Mr. J. D. Pittman Evergreen, Ala.. 

Mr. B. D. Purinton, Ph. D., LL. D Morgantown, W. Va.. 

Mrs. Purington Morgantown, W. Va.. 

Mr. Moses P. Perley Enosburg Falls, Vt. . 

Mr. J. Kent Perley Enosburg Falls, Vfc, 

Mr. Cyrus M. Perry Bolton, Conn. 

Rev. Edgar D. Rundell Caro, Mich- 
Rev. E. W. Rishel Franklin, Pa. 

Mr. Benj. F. Ramage Fairmont, W. Va.. 

Mr. J. H. Rodebaugh , Buffalo, N. Y. 

Mrs. Rodebaugh Buffalo, N. Y.. 

Miss Marguerite Rodebaugh Buffalo, N. Y. 

Rev. J. J. Reddett Barrie, Ont.. 

Mrs. Reddett Barrie, Ont.. 

Mr. Robt. Ridgway Amboy, Ind^. 

Mrs. Ridgway Amboy, Ind,. 

Mr. Stanley B. Roberts Minneapolis, Minn... 

Mrs. E. A. Russell Minneapolis--, Minn... 

Miss Minnie G. Robbins Norwell, Mass,.. 

Rev. B. F. Riley, D. D Houston, Tex., 

Rev. A. L. Riggs, D. D... Santee, Neb... 

Mr. W. H. Radebaugh Lancaster, O. 

Mrs. Ida Hicks Rawson Mount Dora, Fla. 

Rev. D. C. Ridgway, A. M. D. D Carney, Neb.. 

Mr. W. B. Rundle Clinton, 111.. 

Mrs. Sallie R. Reeves Washington, D. C. 



486 



Appendix. 



Rev. C. W. Remington Buffalo, N. Y. 

Rev. Henry Clay Risner Baltimore, Md. 

Mr. Herbert E. Robbins Norwell, Mass. 

Miss Emma V. Rumsey Bethel, Conn. 

Rev. Edward Roberts Venedocia, O. 

Rev. Randolph Rock Wilkinsburg, Pa. 

Rev. Lester C. Randolph Alfred, N. Y. 

Mr. Lewis G. Rogers Buffalo, N. Y. 

Mrs. Etta A. Rumney ..Roxbury, Mass. 

Miss R. M. Sylvester Athol, Mass. 

Hev. D. Everett Smith Indianola, la. 

Mr. Alva Sherwood Three Ocks, Mich. 

Hev. D. B. Shuey, A. M Emporia, Kan. 

Hev. W. A. Swift Covington, Tenn. 

Miss Jennie Swezey New York City 

Miss Emma Shasberger Chicago, 111. 

Mr. G. B. Stone Oklahoma City, O. T. 

Mr. Wm. H. Smith Yonkers, N. Y. 

Mrs. Smith Yonkers, N. Y. 

Mrs. Eloise M. Seaman New York City 

Miss Sue B. Scott Lexington, Ky. 

Rev. E. J. Scott Lynn, Ind. 

Rev. J. D. Stewart Aurora, Neb. 

Mr. Frank P. Spryer Pittsburg, Pa. 

Miss M. Ella Schooley Kansas City, Mo. 

Mr. Adam G. Saxman Latrobe, Pa. 

Rev. S. J. Shaw San Diego, Cal. 

Mr. Chas. Schumacher Altamont, 111. 

Rev. E. B. Saunders Shiloh, N. J. 

Mr. James Stander Louisville, Neb. 

Miss E. A. Streater , Meridian, Miss. 

Mr. Jas. Elwood Stanley W. Liberty, O. 

M. Jno. M. Sparrow Toronto, Ont. 

Rev. Jno. F. Sherer Nickelville, Pa. 

Miss Fletie Staples Commeskey, Ind. 

Miss Jean Scott Clay Center, Neb. 

Miss Elsie Strong Greenwich, Conn. 

Miss Margery Strong Greenwich, Conn. 

Miss Mame Stevens .Minneapolis, Minn. 

Mr. W. C. Shafer Fairmont, W. Va. 

Miss Lydia Spier Glenn Falls, N. Y. 

Mr. T. J. Simmons Rome, Ga. 

Rev. Cyrus K. Stockwell Ango:a, Ind. 

Miss Margaret J. Stewart New York City 

Rev. Edw. H. Smith Oshkosh, Wis. 

Miss E. V. Shearer Rockford, 111. 

Miss Edna C. Smith Chicago, 111. 

Miss May Stewart Los Angeles, Cal. 



Appendix. 



487 



Mr. William H. Scott Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mrs. Scott Philadelphia, Pa, 

Miss Martha P. Scott ...Philadelphia, Pa. 

Miss Helen P. Scott Philadelphia, Pa. 

Miss Dorothy P. Scott Philadelphia, Pa„ 

Mrs. M. P. Stevens St. Louis, Mo.. 

Miss Mary E. Stewart Mobile, Ala.. 

Mrs. 0. C. Shedd St. Louis, Mo.. 

Rev. R. K. Southerland Tazewell, Va„ 

Miss Adelaide Short Stillwater, O. T.- 
Mr. Thos. M. Simpson .steubenville, O. 

Rev. N. A. Smith Wellston, (X 

Mr. Alex. Stevenson Circleville, 0. 

Mr. Jno. J. Still Orangeville, Ont. 

Rev. J. Seibert, M. A Worcester, Mass. 

Mr. Josiah A. Stevenson London, Ont. 

Mrs. J. A. Stevenson London, Ont. 

Miss Davida Stafford London, Ont. 

Mr. Josiah W. Sparks Wilmington, O. 

Mrs. Sparks Wilmington, O. 

Miss E. Stoughton Armstrong, B. C. 

Mrs. A. J. Swain Boise, Idaho 

Miss Annie E. Sant'ord Springfield. 111. 

Mr. Harold W. Stimpson New York City 

Miss Sabra L. Sargent Lake Forest, 111. 

Rev. Chas. E. Scott Grayling, Mich. 

Mr. W. J. Semelroth St. Louis, Mo. 

Mrs. Susan D. Smedes Sewanee, Tenn. 

Mr. Arthur P. Stacy Minneapolis. Minn. 

Miss Lora E. Squire Beloit, Kan. 

Mrs. Harriet A. Sanderson Denver, Col. 

Rev. Hy. M. Tenney, D. D Oberlin, O. 

Rev. L. B. Tenney Nelson, N. H. 

Mrs. Tenney... Nelson, N. H. 

Rev. O. S. Thompson, D. D Paulina, la. 

Mr. C. G. Trumbull Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mrs. Trumbull Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mr. W. S. F. Tatum Bonhomie P. O., Miss. 

Mrs. R. A. Tatum Bonhomie P. O., Miss.. 

Mr. West O. Tatum Bonhomie P. O., Miss. 

Master Will Tatum ' Bonhomie P. O., Miss. 

Master Frank Tatum Bonhomie P. O., Miss. 

Mr. Theodore Trouth Sterling, 111. 

Miss Helen Allen Tripler Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Miss Winifred R. Teel .Vernon Center, Conn. 

Mr. Bernard G. Teel Vernon Center, Conn. 

Mr. W. M. Teal < Torrell, Tex. 

Mr. W. H. Thomas Bluefield, W. Va. 



488 



Appendix. 



Mrs. K. S. Townsend Amboy, 111. 

Miss Minnie E. Turnbull Minneapolis, Minn. 

Rev. J. L. Thompson Bessemer, Miss. 

Miss Sarah L. Taylor Roxbury, Mass. 

Mr. E. H. Tussing Delphos, O. 

Mrs. Jean Templer . . . .Chilliwack, B. C. 

Rev. R. B. Taylor San Diego, Cal. 

Mr. James A. Tompkins Granby, Quebec 

Mr. Henry A. Thompson Belvidere, 111. 

Rev. J. B. Toomay Carthage, Me. 

Miss Jean A. Taylor Neepawa, Manitoba 

Mr. Jno. Howard Taylor Millbrook, Ct. 

Mrs. Taylor Millbrook, Ct. 

Mr. Alfred E. Venton St. Augustine, Fla. 

Mr. W. C. Van Arsdel Indianapolis, Ind. 

Dr. E. Van Hood Ocala, Fla. 

Rev. John Van Ness Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mrs. Van Ness Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mr. E. K. Warren Three Oaks, Mich. 

Mrs. Warren Tnree Oaks, Mich. 

Miss Lydia Warren Three Oaks, Mich. 

Miss Lena Wilbur South Scituate, R. I. 

Mr. Benjamin Wilbur South Scituate, R. I. 

Miss Caroline C. White Memphis, Tenn. 

Mrs. J. A. Walker Denver, Colo. 

Mr. T. J. Williams . Pittsburg, Pa. 

Rev. Abner K. Wright Louisville, Ky. 

Mr. F. A. Wells : Chicago, 111. 

Mrs. F. A. Wells Chicago, 111. 

Miss Edith Wells T Chicago, 111. 

Master Harris Wells Chicago, 111. 

Rev. Manford D. Wolfe , Haverhill, Mass. 

Mr. W. M. Wiggins San Antonio, Tex. 

Hev. E. A. Witter, Ph. M Salem, W. Va. 

Rev. R. B. Wilson Cumberland, O. 

Miss Amy Warder Chicago, 111. 

Mrs. G. A. Wells Indianapolis, Ind. 

Mr. G. C. Williams Ottawa, O. 

Mr. W. W. Wolfe Boulder, Colo. 

Mrs. W. W. Wolfe Boulder, Colo. 

Rev. W. Scott Whittier, D. D Trinidad, B. W. I. 

Rev. Andrew E. Wright Circleville, O. 

Mr. Wesley Williams W. Haddonfield, N. J. 

Mrs. Williams W. Haddonfield, N. J. 

Miss Pearl Wright Palestine, 111. 

Mr. S. C. Watts... Clearfield, Pa. 

:Rev. L. S. Woodruff , Rawson, O. 



Appendix. 



489 



Mr. W. C. Weld Los Angeles, Cal. 

Rev. Hamilton Wigle, B. A Regina, Assa. 

Mr. L. S. Woodworth Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Curry Wilson Philadelphia, Pa. 

Capt. Wm. Henry White New York City 

Mr. William W. Wall New York City 

Rev. Hugh K. Walker, D. D Los Angeles, Cal. 

Miss Anna M. Williams Greenwich, Conn. 

Mr. Wm. McC. Wilson Franklin, Pa. 

Mrs. Wilson Franklin, Pa. 

Miss Muriel Williams Redlands, Cal. 

Miss L. A. Winston Morgantown, N. C. 

Miss Emma G. Welch Providence, R. I. 

Mr. W. B. Wilson Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. Wilson Providence, R. I. 

Mr. Harvey W. White Jacksonburg, W. Va. 

Mrs. Martha White Three Oaks, Mich. 

Mr. L. Woodrufi Binghamton, N. Y. 

Miss Etta Walcott Wellesley Hills, Mass. 

Miss M. L. Watts Boston, Mass. 

Mrs. E. S. Wilkinson North Adams, Mass. 

Mrs. Mary E. Whitman Ncrth Adams, Mass. 

Mr. A. G. Wardlaw Union, S. C. 

Mrs. Henry Webb Toronto, Ont. 

Mr. Gilman C. Whipple Lebanon, N. H. 

M. D. Wolfe Haverhill, Mass. 

Mr. T. J. Wilbanks Albany, Mo. 

Mrs. Olive L. Welch Wilmington, O. 

Mrs. Ella C. Wolfe Kansas City, Mo. 

Mr. Chas. H. Wheelock Battle Creek, Mich. 

Mr. J. B. Westcott Pleasantville, N. J. 

Miss Alice E. Webster Kentville, N. S. 

Dr. H. A. Wilson Wardsville, Ont. 

Mrs. H. A. Wilson Wardsville, Ont. 

Rev. W. L. Walker Macon, Ga. 

Rev. Joseph Wells Des Moines, la. 

Miss Flora Wilson Traer, la. 

Mrs. D. G. Westcott Gladbrook, la. 

Mrs. Jennie Fowler-Willing New York City 

Mr. Isaac Yohe Monongahela City, Pa. 

Mrs. Yohe Monongahela City, Pa. 

Mr. Jonas D. Yoder West Liberty, O. 

Rev. T. S. Young San Jose, Cal. 

Dr. J. W. Young Ft. Wayne, Ind. 

Mrs. Young Ft. Wayne, Ind. 

Mr. E. K. Yeakel Polo, 111. 

Miss Marguerite M. Yeoman Jefferson, O. 

Rev. Rufus C. Zartman Philadelphia, Pa. 



490 



Appendix. 



PASSENGERS FOR LOCAL POINTS. 

Dr. Hy. H. Jessup New York City 

Mrs. Jessup New York City 

Miss Anna H. Jessup New York City 

Miss Laura C. Smith Berlin, Conn. 

Mrs. Margaret W. Dean Urannia, Persia 



Index. 



491 



INDEX 



CHAPTER I. 

EASTWARD BOUND. — PREPARATIONS FOR THE GREAT 

CRUISE. 

A desire to visit Palestine. — Observed notice of a World's Sunday 
School Convention to be held in Jerusalem April 18, 19 and 
20, 1904. — Was appointed delegate from the State of Ne- 
braska. — Boat chartered. — The management of the Conven- 
tion and general direction of the cruise. — World's Sunday 
School Conventions. — The Meeting in Chicago. — Mr. Harts- 
horn's choice. — The idea discussed at Denver. — International 
Central Committee approves. — How delegates were appointed. 
— Newspapers, religious and secular. — Official call. — Difficul- 
ties. — Interest kindled. — British delegates sail in Auguste Vic- 
toria. — The co-operation of foreign missionary boards. — 
Prominent archeologists co-operate. — Eighteen months of 
preparation. — Characteristics of delegates. — Prominent Sun- 
day school workers. — The general expense of the cruise. — 
Passports and Turkish tazkeras. . . . . . .17 

CHAPTER II. 

CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. — ADJUSTING OURSELVES TO THE 
STRANGE LIFE OF THE SHIP. 

Leaving home. — Travel delayed. — Arrival in Jersey City. — The 
Grosser Kurfurst and my room-mates. — Arrival of passengers. 
— The departure from America. — The ship's crew. — Sea-sick- 
ness. — Marconi bulletins. — The first day at sea. — The ship's 
bugler. — The daily morning service. — The captain distributing 
hat bands. — The employment of the passengers. — The ship's 
supplies and dimensions. — Exercise limited. — Conveniences of 
an ocean steamer. — Ventilation, water, cleanliness. — The first 
Sunday. . . • ; >> . . . . . 24 

CHAPTER III. 

MADEIRA, THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT. 

Nearing land at Madeira. — Funchal; its location. — Amphibious 
natives. — Silver coins, seen best by divers. — Picturesque ter- 
races and homes. — Stone pavements. — The inclined railway. — 
Flowers and other vegetation. — Followed by children. — De- 
lightful scenery. — A beautifully situated villa. — A Portuguese 
school. — A rough decline. — Boys passing home from school. — 
The meeting in Mission Hall. — Meeting in theater building. — 
Meeting at Presbyterian church. — How Columbus heard of 
the western land. — Women washing. — The Casino. — Carro 
ride. — Shopping. — Departure. ...... 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

GIBRALTAR, A BRITISH FORTRESS. 

The Pillars of Hercules. — Gibraltar not esteemed by the early pos- 
sessors. — Gibraltar a promontory. — Physical features. — Moor- 
ish castle. — The Galleries. — Being admitted to the Galleries. — 
Light in the darkness. — The View from a great height. — Even- 
ing signal and key sergeant. — The present Governor. — The 
Emperor of Germany. — Neutral ground. — Revenue officials. — 
Streets and shops. — The British soldier. — Gibraltar, a British 
possession. — One of our party left at Gibraltar because of ill- 
ness. — The Mediterranean, or midland sea. . . . 53 



492 



Index. 



CHAPTER V. 

ALGIERS, A DIAMOND ENCLOSED IN AN EMERALD. 

Location. — Buildings. — Population. — The curiosity of the natives. 
—The lack of clothing of the people of the East. — Sellers of 
wares. — The Algerian pirates of modern times. — Experiences 
with cabmen. — Mosques and worshipers. — Soldiers. — Through 
the Arabic quarter. — A visit to the French quarter of Algiers. 

63 

CHAPTER VI. 

MALTA, THE ISLAND "OF A CERTAIN BAY WITH A SHORE." 

The story of the shipwreck of St. Paul. — The popularity of St. 
Paul. — The gratitude of the people. — The Knights of St. John. 
— Anchored before Valeta. — Malta, a possession of Great Brit- 
ain. — Valeta, the capital. — Its streets. — Cathedral of St. John 
and residence of the Grand Master. — Gruesome Chapel of 
Bones. — City of Citta Vecchia. — The grotto of St. Paul. — "A 
Pay with a Shore." . . . . . . . . .'. . 71 

CHAPTER VII. 

ATHENS AND MARS HILL. 

The port of Piraeus. — The landing. — Met by venders. — Pecular 
Roman letters. — The familiar temple of Theseus. — Grecian 
Architecture. — Temple of Olympian Zeno. — Theaters.-; — Nurse 
and child. — The Acropolis and Mars Hill. — The party dining 
at hotels. — Museum and palace. — The Grecian soldier. — The 
new Stadium. — Services on Mars Hill. — We sail for Constanti- 
nople. — While at Athens several of our party visit Corinth. 8 3 

CHAPTER VIII. 
CONSTANTINOPLE, THE CITY OF THE BOSPHORUS. 

Constantine and Constantinople. — The first dock landing of the 
Kurfurst. — Turkish officials. — A cold wave. — The evening's 
experience of the brave. — Dogs of Constantinople.— Galatan 
bridge and tower. — Mosques and worshipers. — St. Sophia. — 
Mosque of Solyman. — The Hippodrome. — The Sublime Porte 
— The noted museum of Constantinople. — Entertainment at 
the palace of the Sultan. — The Girls' college at Scutari. — Rob- 
erts college. — The Bible House. — Cisterns of Constantinople. — 
Extensive bazaars. — Turkish soldiers. — Sail up to the Black 
Sea, passing Roberts college. ...... 103 

CHAPTER IX. 

SMYRNA AND EPHESUS. 

Landing at Smyrna. — The street near the quay. — At the college 
buildings. — Addressed by Rev. George Xenophon Maschon. — 
The Tomb of Polycarp. — Country sights in the real East. — 
Near the station at Ephesus. — The gate of persecution. — St. 
John's church. — The temple of Diana. — The ancient city of 
Ephesus. — Meeting in the theater. — The ruins. — Returning in 
torrents of rain. — Sailing from Ephesus. — We pass Patmos 
in the night. — Easter at sea. — Differences lost sight of. — Ser- 
mon by Agathaggelas. . . . . . . . .127 

CHAPTER X. 

CANAAN, THE LAND OF PROMISE. 

Palestine's physical dimensions and divisons. — The return of the 
missionaries to Beyrout. — Surrender of the passport. — An am- 
bitious driver. — We visit the Syrian Protestant college. — The 
girls' school. — The American press. — Streets and bazaars. — 
Sight seeing. — The Palestine sun. — The ruins of Balbek. . 145 



Index. 



493 



CHAPTER XI. 

DAMASCUS, THE OLDEST CITY IN THE WORLD. 

Railroading- to Damascus. — By the way. — Bread, the staff of life. — 
Damascus homes. — Inside our tent. — The "Donkey Band." — 
First days in the saddle. — Shukrey, our dragoman. — In the 
footsteps of St. Paul to the sea of Galilee. — The first camp din- 
ner. — Caesarea Philippi. — At Dan. — First view of the Sea of 
Galilee . . . 15^ 



CHAPTER XII. 
FROM GALILEE TO JERUSALEM. 

The Plain of Esdraelon. — Nain and Shunem. — At Gideon's Pool. — 
The mourners. — On to Dothan. — The Shechem of Old Testa- 
ment times. — Jacob's well was there. — Shilo, where lived the 
boy Samuel. — The last morning before reaching Jerusalem. — 
At Bethel 17 9 



CHAPTER XIII. 
HAIFA AND PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 

The landing. — The beautiful Bay of Acre. — Waiting at Haifa for 
carriages. — The semi-oriental procession. — Railroad in Pales- 
tine. — Camels and caravans. — Mount Carmel. — The Plain of 
Esdraelon, a battle field. — The land of the fig and olive. — The 
great highway. — Oak trees of Harosheth. — The flogging. — The 
beautiful Plain of Jezreel. — Elisha yet cultivates the plain with 
oxen and plow. — The flowers. — The loneliness of the plain. 193 



CHAPTER XIV. 
NAZARETH. 

Nearing Nazareth. — Nazareth not mentioned in the Old Testament. 
— As we enter the village. — At the convent.— The church of 
Annunciation. — The carpenter's shop of Joseph. — Life and 
work of the carpenter. — Characteristic articles of the place for 
sale. — The Fountain of the Virgin. — The Nazareth girls, the 
most handsome. — View from the hilltop. — -We visit the Prot- 
estant Orphanage. — Homes of Nazareth. — An evening ramble. 
— The Hill of Precipitation 197 



CHAPTER XV. 
GALILEE. 

Cana, the scene of Christ's first miracle. — The guests and water jar. 
— The nobleman from Capernaum. — The spring and church at 
Cana. — The landscape and scenery from Cana. — An Oriental 
wedding procession. — We pass in sight of Kurn Hatten, tradi- 
tional site of Sermon on the Mount. — We come in sight of the 
Sea of Galilee. — Hotel accommodations at Tiberias. — The Gov- 
ernor. — Oriental cooking. — The climate of Tiberias. — Hot 
baths. — The city in Herod's day. — The wall and tower. — The 
lake, once the scene of a naval battle. — Tiberias, the center of 
scholarship and early Christianity. — The present Presbyterian 
mission. — A sail on the sea. — Its size and shape. — Boats and 
oarsmen. — Memories of Christ. — Tell Hum, a traditional site 
of Capernaum. — We sang "Blue Galilee." — Other probable 
sites. — The prophecy being fulfilled. — The sea and surround- 
ings as compared with other sights in Palestine. — The sight 
sublime. — We return to Nazareth and Haifa. . . . 207 



494 



Index. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

JAFFA, THE NEAREST PORT TO JERUSALEM. 

Waiting before Jaffa. — Our boatmen. — A carriage ride to the rail- 
road station. — Ancient Jaffa. — Biblical history of the city. — 
Scenes in the streets. — Its people. — The orange orchards. — 
Going up to Jerusalem. ........ 221 



CHAPTER XVII. 

JERUSALEM, THE HOLY CITY. — WITHIN THE GATES OF ZION. 

Jts ancient history. — Religious and political periods. — Modern Je- 
rusalem. — The city viewed from the Mount of Olives.— Its lo- 
cation, climate and population. — The Temple Area. — The 
Mosque of Omar and suspended rock. — The golden nails. — 
The Mosque of El Aksa; worshipers. — The fine rope. — Beneath 
the Temple Area. — Temple Area associations. — The Gollen 
Gate. — The Church of the Holy Sepulcher; divisions; tomb; 
anointing stone; pilgrims. — Among the Heavenly host. — Meet- 
ing of a friend in a foreign land. — St. Stephen's Gate. — Along 
the Via Dolorosa. — The Chapel of Scourging. — The Ecce Homo 
Arch. — View of the city. — The site of the traditional house 
of Pontius Pilate 229 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 

The wall of the city. — A donkey ride. — Visiting the tombs. — The 
Garden tomb. — Solomon's Quarries. — The garden of Gethsem- 
ane. — We pass by the Golden Gate. — The Pool of Siloam. — The 
Jews' Wailing Place. — The large upper room. — The site of the 
house of Caiaphas. — We return to the De Pare. . . 2 59 



CHAPTER XIX. 



JERICHO AND THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN. 

-Going down to Jericho. — Waiting at St. Stephen's Gate. — The Inn 
of the Good Samaritan. — Brook Cherith. — The wilderness of 
Judea. — The approach to Jericho. — Elisha's fountain. — Wait- 
ing at the Gilgal. — Arabic camps. — The Dead Sea. — To the 
Jordan. — The source and course of the Jordan. — Its part in 
the history of the Holy Land. — The traditional site of Gilgal. — 
"Blind Bartimeus." — The return to Jerusalem. . . . 275 



CHAPTER XX. 

BETHLEHEM, WHERE THE ANGELS SANG, AND THE ANCIENT 

CITY OF HEBRON. 

On the way from Jerusalem. — Tomb of Rachel. — House of Saul. — 
The well by the gate. — The spurious cave. — Judah's great dy- 
nasty. — The inhabitants. — Educational advantages. — The 
Church of the Nativity. — Jerome and his great work. — The 
manger. — Turkish guards. — The fields of Boaz. — The shep- 
herd's field. — The return to Jerusalem. — Our faithful driver. — 
The ancient city of Hebron. — Pools of Siloam. — Surrounded by 
vineyards and fields of grain. — Hebron, one of the sacred 
cities. — Its manufactories. — The principal sights being the 
cave of Machpelah, David's Pool, Abraham's Oak and the 
Brook Eschol. — Fruits of the land. : 301 



Index. 



495 



CHAPTER XXI. 
THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 

A reckless driver. — Remarkable sights. — View from the Russian 
Tower. — A meeting of the delegates in a grove near by. — A 
few kind words. — The Garden of Gethsemane. — Bethany. — 
Tomb of Lazarus. — The house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. 319 

CHAPTER XXII. 
THE WORLD'S CONVENTION. 

The nations gathering. — Scene on the way to the tent. — The strange 
rumor. — Faces new at a Sunday School Convention. — The chil- 
dren's charter. — Communion at Jerusalem. — Christian work- 
ers of the world respond. — Message from a Samaritan high 
priest. — President Warren's remarkable studies of the land. — 
Chairman Pailey. — Birth of the Palestine Sunday School As- 
sociation. — The world's organized Sunday school work. — Ful- 
filling the commission. — The last session. — A General of Abys- 
sinia. — Consecration messages. — Mayor Pasha reads the Nine- 
teenth Fsalm. — The nations' fellowship. — The convention's 
meaning. .......... 327 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

LEAVING PALESTINE. 

Jerusalem asks, "Why have they come?" — A vision of Jerusalem as 
it is yet to be. — To Emmaus. — The Valley of Ajalon. — Gezer, 
where excavations are bein°- made. — To Rahmla. — Through 
the Plain of Sharon to Jaffa. — From Jerusalem to Jeffa by 
train. -^A lonely ride through the streets of Jaffa. — Aboard the 
Kurfurst. — Home, sweet home. ...... 351 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

EGYPT, THE LAND OF PHAROAHS. 

The Pharoahs of Joseph and Moses. — Joseph and Mary in Egypt. — 
The Nile and ruins. — History and religion. — Modern Egypt. 
— First view of Egypt. — Pompey's Pillar. — The great library. — 
The Rosetta stone. — The Nile valley and irrigation. — The well- 
sweep. — Boats and people. — The eity of Cairo, streets, hotels. 
— Greetings at the veranda. — At the shepherd's. — On the way 
to the great Pyramid. — Ascending the Pyramid. — A view from 
its summit. — Angry assistants. — The Sphinx. — Ancient Cairo, 
its tomts, cathedral, etc. — The Cootie Church. — The Isle of 
Roda. — The milometer. — Our guide. — The banyan tree. — Na- 
tive bazaars. — Heliopolis, the birthplace of Moses. — Where 
Joseph and Mary rested. — The Pillar of On. — An indignant 
native woman. — The return to Cairo. — A wedding procession. 
— Venders. — The Egyptian plagues. — The American mission. — 
Dr. Watkins. — The Museum of Gizeh, the lower floor, and 
mummies of the Pharoahs of Egyot. — Memphis. — Statue of 
Rameses. . . . . . . . . . . 3 59 

CHAPTER XXV. 

BAY OF NAPLES AND ENVIRONMENT. — HOMEWARD BOUND 

ON THE KURFURST. 

Leaving Alexandria. — The approach to Naples. — Escape from 
quarantine. — The United States battleship Kentucky. — In 
honor of the ruler of France. — An evening in Naples. — A fond 
farewell. — Vesuvius and Capri. — The city of Naples.- — Pom- 
peii. — Leaving the Grosser Kurfurst. — Homeward bound on 
the Kurfurst and greater number of the passengers. . .3 87 



496 



Index. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
ROME, THE ETERNAL CITY. 

The traditional founding- of Rome. — A sketch of the history of 
Rome, with its ancient roads, piazzas, columns, buildings, 
fountains, etc. — Modern Rome. — On the way to Rome. — Our 
hotel. — Out the Appian Way. — A view of the city. — A wedding 
party at the Minerva. — The Roman forum. — The Pantheon. — 
Churches. — The Mammertine Prison. — St. Peter's and the 
Vatican. — The capitol. — Sunday in Rome. — The King's palace. 409 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

ACROSS EUROPE BY WAY OF FLORENCE, VENICE, MILAN AND 

LUCERNE. 

Leaving the company at Rome. — Early recollections of Florence. — 
A view of the city. — Savonarola. — In the galleries. — The 
Duoma. — St. Marco. — Michael Angelo's Shepherd King. — On 
the way to Venice. — The tunnels. — The Grand Canal. — The 
Piazza and Church of St. Mark's. — A ramble through the city. 
— In sight of the Alps. — At Milan. — Ascension Day. — "The 
Last Supper," by Leonardo da Vinci. — Service in the Cathe- 
dral. — From Milan to Lake Lucerne by way of the St. Goth- 
ard. — We cross the Alps into Switzerland. — Scenery delightful 
and sublime. — The city of Lucerne. — The ascent to our de- 
lightful lodging place. — The Lion of Lucerne. — Crossing the 
Rhine at Bale 437 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

PARIS AND HOMEWARD BOUND BY WAY OF ENGLAND AND 

SCOTLAND. 

A sketch of the history of Paris. — Place de la Concorde. — Service 
at the Madeleine. — Up the Seine. — Sights near the Boulevard. 
— The central part of the city. — The Champs Elysees and 
Triumphal Arch. — Park Bois de Boulogne. — The Eiffel Tower. 
— The burial place of the First Napoleon. — Near the heart of 
the city. — To the Bourse, or stock exchange. — The Bastile. — At 
Louvre. — Crossing the Channel. — In London. — Visiting rela- 
tives in Scotland. — Meeting members of the Kurfurst party in 
Westminster Abbey. — Crossing the Atlantic. — Arrival in New 
York City. 459 



